A Seamstress

Édouard Vuillard, French

1892

Oil on canvas

Saint Louis Art Museum

A woman in a blue dress is seated and sewing a large piece of dark fabric. The background is a busy, patterned wallpaper. A woman in a blue dress is seated and sewing a large piece of dark fabric. The background is a busy, patterned wallpaper. The subject of a woman sewing comes directly from Edouard Vuillard's own experience in his mother's dressmaking shop where, as a youth, he watched his sister work. In this painting, a seamstress is hunched over her handiwork in quiet concentration, and is surrounded by a profusion of colorful and decorative materials. Placing great emphasis on the composition of the portrayed items, Vuillard flattened out the forms so that they interlock and produce strong patterns. Gift of Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr. On View, Galler