André Bénac

The sitter, André Bénac, is shown in a pale armchair, hands clasped around a walking stick, his dark suit contrasting with the muted surroundings. The painting was intended to mark Bénac’s receipt of the Grand Croix, the highest rank of the Legion of Honor, highlighting his public stature while situating him in a familiar, private setting.

Vuillard employs his characteristic decorative palette, rendering walls, curtains and furniture in softened, almost indistinct patches of colour. The background recedes into a hazy blur, while the figure’s face and hands are rendered with greater definition, creating a subtle tension between ornamental ambience and portraiture realism.

The commission produced two versions: the present vertical format intended for Bénac’s personal use, and a horizontal counterpart retained by the electricity company, now held in a collection in Zurich. Both depict the same pose and smile, but the museum version trims the surrounding space, focusing attention on the sitter.

Vuillard was a member of the Nabis, a late‑19th‑century group that emphasized decorative colour and stylized form. By the mid‑1930s, his work had shifted from the richly patterned interiors of his youth toward more restrained portraiture, a transition reflected in this commission for a corporate patron.