Program for Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm
Édouard Vuillard
French, 1868–1940
October 1893
A lithograph program Vuillard made for the premiere of Ibsen’s Rosmersholm, where he used loose, gestural drawing and hand-lettered typography to evoke the play’s intimate, brooding atmosphere.
At first glance the sheet reads like a private sketch—feathery, broken lines suggest a dim interior with seated figures beside a patterned wall while the right side is filled with expressive, hand-written cast and performance details that merge text and image into a single, atmospheric composition.
As a work by a leading Nabi artist, it collapses illustration, graphic design, and fine art, showing how printmaking and typographic improvisation could conjure theatrical mood and help shape modern poster and book design.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
composition: 8 1/4 x 12 1/4" (21 x 31.1 cm); sheet: 9 3/4 x 12 13/16" (24.8 x 32.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (by exchange)
Accession
308.1955
Palette
Exhibitions
