The Game of Checkers

Ambroise Vollard (1865–1939), a dealer in Impressionist paintings, was also an important print publisher. In 1895 he commissioned his first portfolio from Pierre Bonnard: 12 color lithographs called Some Aspects of Paris Life (one of them is shown nearby). This was followed by many other albums of prints, including Vuillard's Landscapes and Interiors. Bonnard and Vuillard were members of a group of artists called the Nabis—the Hebrew word for "prophet"—which evokes both their playful mysticism and their determination to develop a new artistic language based on the notion that form and color could be used expressively. The Nabis favored subjects of the modern city and middle-class family life depicted in a decorative and even whimsical manner. Vuillard's intimate scenes of comfortable domesticity are wonderful examples of the beautiful color lithography produced in the 1890s.