Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) was a Swiss-born French painter and printmaker whose incisive, often enigmatic work bridged the Symbolist movement, Post-Impressionism and the emerging aesthetics of modernism.
Born in Lausanne, Vallotton moved to Paris in 1882 to study at the Académie Julian, where he encountered the avant-garde currents that would shape his career. He became closely associated with the Nabis, a group of post-Impressionist artists including Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, sharing their interest in decorative flatness, expressive colour and psychological depth.
Vallotton first gained critical attention for his woodcuts, which revolutionised the medium in the 1890s. Stripped of decorative detail, these stark black-and-white prints — such as those in the series Intimités (1898) — offered a modern visual language that captured scenes of urban life, domestic tension and social alienation with biting clarity. Their graphic boldness and emotional ambiguity had a profound influence on early 20th-century printmaking, notably on German Expressionists.
In painting, Vallotton developed a singular style marked by flattened perspectives, cool tonalities and a disquieting stillness. He frequently explored bourgeois interiors, female nudes and landscapes with a detached, almost clinical eye. His later works became more symbolist and introspective, often imbuing seemingly mundane subjects with psychological unease and subtle narrative tension.
Naturalised as a French citizen in 1900, Vallotton served as a war artist during the First World War, producing a powerful series of woodcuts and paintings reflecting on the devastation. His work is held in major international collections, including the Musée d'Orsay, the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
En promenade
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Les genêts en fleurs, Avallon
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Environs de Cagnes le soir
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Rade à Trégastel, 1917
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Coucher de soleil à Grâce, ciel orangé et vert, 1918
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Un soir sur la Loire
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Quai de Berville, 1918
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Effet de brume, Honfleur, 1917
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
La Seine bordée de saules, Tournedos, 1922
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Marée basse à Villerville, 1922
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
L'escalier du couvent San Marco, Perugia, 1913
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Ruisseau à Arques-la-Bataille, 1903
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Rade de Ploumanach, 1917
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Nu de dos sur un canapé rouge, 1925
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Chemin avec fillette portant un panier, 1911
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Portrait de femme drapée de rouge
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Les Grands Arbres, environs d'Honfleur
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Chemin de la Croix-Rouge
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Maison au soleil, cailloux bleus, 1920
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Nu à plat ventre sur le sable, 1924
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Paysage avec rivière et deux figures, 1918
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Un chemin à Cagnes, 1922
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
La Porte Dauphine
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
La baignade à Etretat
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
La soupière noire, 1923
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Fleurs et fraises, 1920
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Le Tournesol
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
La Seine près Les Andelys, matin soleil
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Paysage printanier, environs de Lausanne, 1916
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Pont sur le Béal, 1922
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
L'île du lac Saint-James, 1922
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Pommes et ananas, 1923
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Rio della Salute, Venise, um 1902
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Martiniquaise, 1915
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Cagnes, le palmier, 1924
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Jeune femme assise de profil, 1914
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Négresse au corsage rose, 1910
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Gabrielle Vallotton assise dans un rocking chair
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Petites poires, 1919
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Roses dans un sucrier blanc, 1910
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Le pot mordoré, 1911
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Nu assis sur le divan de l'atelier
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Femme nue couchée sur un canapé rouge, 1923
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
L'Arc-en-ciel
FÉLIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Nu à la fregate, 1916
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
La Maison rose, Varengeville
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Hortensia et coquillage, 1907
FELIX VALLOTTON (1865-1925)
Femme de dos, 1909
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Femme au cygne
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925)
La Paresse (Vallotton & Georg 169a)