Felix Vallotton

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)

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)

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)

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

Felix Vallotton (1865-1925)

La Paresse (Vallotton & Georg 169a)