At the Theatre

At the Theatre — Édouard Vuillard. 1892.

Medium: Brush and black ink, with touches of graphite on tan wove paper. Dimensions: 24.8 × 32.6 cm (9 13/16 × 12 7/8 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

This spare but finished drawing evocatively depicts a maid with a bib apron (suggested by the bleeding of the ink) pulling back a curtain. It has been identified as a study for Vuillard' s 1892 submission to the Livre d' Art, the illustrated periodical published by Paul Fort, founder of Theatre d' Art, the first forum for symbolist theater. Vuillard creates his image with a brilliant economy of means. A single line evokes the parted curtain-both a literal element of stagecraft and an emblem for theater itself. In addition, the line of the curtain cuts the page and calls attention to the flat surface of the drawing.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.