Interior Drawings

Contemporary collectors prize interior drawings for their capacity to convey the habits, customs, and aesthetic sensibilities of their respective cultures. Interior drawings contain a wealth of information concerning the daily lives of people who lived centuries ago, including their design inclinations, diets, and domestic relationships. They reproduce with exactitude quotidian items such as clothing, furniture, and dining ware.

While interior spaces have been depicted in art since at least the Renaissance period, illustrations of domestic settings gained in popularity during 19th century France following the modernization and renovation of Paris. It was during this time that the distinction between public and private spaces became demarcated to an unprecedented degree and generally divided among gender lines. Thus, the home was transformed into a feminine realm encompassing privacy and family while the throngs convening in public were understood to be reserved for the improper frivolities of men and unscrupulous women.

Prior to this radical transformation, art throughout Europe constituted largely of outdoor city or countryside scenes. Rarely, European art featured an interior tableaux focusing more on subjects engaged in commonplace interaction than the domestic objects that surrounded them.

Quick Facts

• French Nabis artists such as Pierre Bonnard and Eduard Vuillard are famous for their interior drawings. They depict French living quarters with an enthusiasm for their nuances and particularities that had theretofore not been applied to the genre
• Contemporary British artist David Hockney's interior scenes often feature the accouterments of the wealthy and urbane, embodying a recurrent trope throughout his work
• Roy Lichtenstein’s "Drawing for Interior with Painting and Still Life" sold at Christie’s in 2012 for $98,500, proving that the genre is as in demand as ever before