Lucie Hessel de profil devant un bouquet de fleurs c. 1922 - 1924

Editor: This pencil drawing, "Lucie Hessel de profil devant un bouquet de fleurs" by Édouard Vuillard, probably dates from around 1922-1924. The loose lines give the image a dreamlike, unfinished quality. What catches your eye most in this piece? Curator: Immediately, I am struck by the duality – the starker realism of the bouquet battling with the fading presence of Lucie. Is she there, or is she a ghost in her own home? Notice the density of lines versus the sketchier lines of the portrait. How might that division play into our understanding of the work’s meaning, given that flowers often serve as symbols of transience or beauty, and portraits as assertions of legacy and immortality? Editor: So, are you suggesting that the flowers are presented with more 'weight' than Lucie? Why might Vuillard do that? Curator: Perhaps, Vuillard is contemplating a dialogue between memory and lived experience, the weight we give to beauty versus the weight we give to the figure, playing on our ingrained biases. Also consider how "intimist" works often explore these subtle emotional registers of domesticity. Lucie becomes another element within her own interior, blending in to become part of it, fading almost… like wallpaper. Editor: It's funny, I didn't consider the possibility of this 'fading' as the point of the art, but that does track. Thanks for walking me through that. Curator: My pleasure. Considering these contextual factors transforms how we approach this piece, hopefully sparking similar thought in our listeners.