M HKA Ensembles

+ 1925

Born in Lausanne (CH).

Félix Vallotton, born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1865 and obtaining French citizenship in 1900, Vallotton drew his inspiration from this double culture. Vallotton moved to live near Montparnasse, the city’s slumlike breeding ground for artists, poets, musicians, and writers, as he drew closer to Toulouse-Lautrec and the bohemian culture of Paris. Vallotton worked in woodcut almost exclusively throughout the 1890s. In 1892 he began associating with a group of artists called the Nabis (from Hebrew navi, meaning “prophet,” or “seer”)—Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Maurice Denis. During the 1890s Vallotton also became more politically engaged and communicated his sentiments through his prints, which were printed in Paris’s literary and political publications. The last 10 years of Vallotton’s career were less successful. In ill health, Vallotton saw waning appreciation for his art. He continued to make art, however, until he died of cancer at age 60. Though he is most often associated with the Nabis, he never strictly aligned himself with the movement. He has proven difficult to categorize within the framework of art history, showing a range of influences—the Old Masters, Symbolism, Realism, Post-Impressionism, and Japonism (a movement that assimilated Japanese aesthetics).