After moving to Paris in 1859, the Lyonnais artist Antoine Vollon was soon admired by the city’s affluent collectors for his small, carefully rendered still lifes of modest meals and everyday household items. He expanded his repertoire in the 1880s to include comfortable, middle-class interiors like the one depicted in Sitting Room. Here, the room and its contents become a kind of portrait, within which are conventional still-life passages—on the table, a silver tray with glasses and a decanter; a vase of flowers and greens; and a casually placed umbrella and gloves on the seat of the chair. Though the room appears quiet and peaceful and the spaniel in the foreground is slumbering, the precariously balanced umbrella, presumably belonging to the lady of the house, appears as if it has only been laid down for a brief moment. This allusion to the room’s active human occupant cleverly infuses the otherwise tranquil painting with expectant vitality.

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