Portrait D’Irène Montanet c. 1927

This pastel portrait of Irène Montanet, by Édouard Vuillard, must have taken a lot of patience to build up. It's all subtle tonal shifts: dusty pinks, earthy browns, and a ghostly, celadon green. I’m trying to imagine Vuillard making this, adding soft marks, one after another. It must have been a labor of love, the kind of activity where time just disappears, and the outside world fades away. Notice how the marks around Irène’s face are both precise and blurry, kind of how memory works. Those little pink dabs on her cheek, the gentle shadows that define her features… it’s like he's trying to capture not just what she looks like, but how he feels about her. And that green of her dress - I am always drawn to green. The way he’s used it here feels so modern, yet classic. It’s like he's both honoring tradition and pushing against it, all in one gesture. It’s all one big conversation across time, and we are all invited to participate.