Woman with a Cup of Coffee 1895

Édouard Vuillard’s “Woman with a Cup of Coffee” is a small painting, 29.8 by 21 centimeters, currently held in a private collection. Immediately striking is the composition, dominated by a saturated red that envelops much of the scene. Linear accents of gold draw the eye upward, yet the figure remains grounded by dense areas of black and white below. The loose brushwork and the painting's intimate scale suggest a momentary, private scene. However, Vuillard isn't simply capturing a candid moment; he is actively engaging with the dissolution of clear form. The figure seems to emerge from, or perhaps recede into, the background, challenging conventional notions of figure-ground relationships. The lack of crisp edges and defined forms allows for a play between abstraction and representation. This destabilization aligns with broader artistic concerns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as artists explored subjective perception and the breakdown of traditional modes of seeing. Note how the cup of coffee seems to disappear into the table, a microcosm of the larger themes at play.