Lisez la revue Blanche - Frères - La gardienne - Créanciers - Programme du théâtre de l'oeuvre 1894

This rare 1894 illustrated program, created by Édouard Vuillard, was produced for a special evening at Le Théâtre de l’Œuvre, a crucible of Symbolist and Naturalist innovation in the Parisian avant-garde. The program accompanies performances of Frères (by Hermann Bahr), La Gardienne (by Henri Régnier), and Créanciers (a translation of Strindberg's Creditors), all emblematic of the Théâtre de l’Œuvre’s mission to introduce psychological realism and modernist aesthetics to the stage.

Vuillard, a key member of the Nabis group, brought to the lithograph his signature intimate, textural style, blending delicate tonal variations and handwritten typography. The design is introspective and atmospheric, echoing the theatrical content’s preoccupations with domestic space, emotional nuance, and moral ambiguity.

Notably, the piece is tied to La Revue Blanche, the influential literary-art journal with which Vuillard and many progressive artists and writers were affiliated. The layout—decentralized, almost improvised—feels closer to a poetic visual essay than a typical program, making it a hybrid of print ephemera and visual art.

This composition exemplifies Vuillard’s unique approach to theater-related illustration: rather than dramatize the plays, he evokes their interior emotional world, leaving viewers to interpret the visual atmosphere as part of their theatrical experience. It is a remarkable example of how graphic design and modernist theater intersected in fin-de-siècle Paris.

Illustrated Program

Theater - Avant-Garde - France

Salle de la Comédie Parisienne

Good condition, one small tear