Nature morte au bougeoir [The Candlestick] 1900

Édouard Vuillard captured this intimate still life, *Nature morte au bougeoir*, using oil on canvas, during a time of significant change in French society. Vuillard, as a member of the Nabis, turned away from the grand narratives of academic painting to focus on the private sphere. Here, the objects on the table – the candlestick, the books, the flowers – gain significance as they reflect the quiet, domestic lives of the bourgeois. Lace, like that covering the table, was a common display of wealth in bourgeois households. The blue floral pattern in the background is reminiscent of decorative arts like wallpaper or fabric design, a conscious blurring of the lines between fine art and the decorative arts. As a man in a society where women were largely confined to the domestic sphere, Vuillard’s focus on the interior can be seen to reflect gendered spaces and expectations of his time. His art invites us to consider the relationship between identity and environment, and to explore how personal narratives are woven into the fabric of our surroundings.