On the Beach

Edouard Vuillard

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a grassy landscape from a slightly elevated angle. The horizon is high in the composition, with faint pink-and-yellow mountains or hills under a muted gray-blue sky. Closest to us, light greens and yellows suggest grass. A group of people is seated on the right under a red-and-white striped tent. They appear to wear garments in shades of purple, black, and white, and they are all wearing hats. We can't see their facial features. In the center, a woman in a white dress sits on the grass, her back to us. On the left, some indistinct colorful objects are on the grass. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible, giving a dream-like, blurred quality to the scene.