
The organic strokes that comprise Vuillard’s trees contrast with the linear divisions of agricultural land. The imagery is reminiscent of a passage written by the artist’s muse, Misia Natanson: “Solemn and dreamy, Vuillard led me along the river, past high silver birch trees. . . . He slowly moved through the yellowed grass. . . . Our silhouettes were just shadows against a pale sky.”