Madame Hessel Chez La Modiste c. 1903

Édouard Vuillard made *Madame Hessel Chez La Modiste* with oil on cardboard, and it's all about how process can capture a feeling, right? Vuillard’s colours are like faded echoes here: muted greens, yellows, and a dash of red underfoot. The surface is alive with short, choppy strokes. It's like he’s not just painting a scene but also the very air in the room. Look at the woman in green, how the paint seems to dance around her form, barely defining her, more like a memory of a person than a portrait. This connects to the way Vuillard was interested in capturing intimate, domestic scenes, making the ordinary feel extraordinary. It's as if he’s inviting us into a private world. I see a kinship between Vuillard and Bonnard in their shared intimacy and interest in the everyday. Art is a conversation across time, inviting us to see, think, and feel in new ways.