NEW YORK, NY.- In darkly suggestive paintings and graphically spare prints, Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) chronicled fin de siècle Paris like no other artist of his generation. He lampooned the bourgeoisie with acerbic wit and laid bare the urban turmoil of a society in flux. Swiss born and Paris educated, Vallotton was a highly original artist whose diverse talents have never been fully recognized. In the first U.S. exhibition of his work in nearly 30 years, Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet—on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art—profiles pivotal moments in the artist’s career as a painter and printmaker through some 80 works of art from more than two dozen lenders. His compelling portraits, interiors, still lifes, and landscapes engage us in their comedy and complexity.

The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with Fondation Félix Vallotton, Lausanne. 

Félix Vallotton, Self-portrait at the Age of Twenty (Autoportrait à l’âge de vingt ans), 1885. Oil on canvas, 70 x 55.2 cm. Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne. Acquisition, 1896. Inv. 620. Photo © Nora Rupp, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne

“Vallotton’s depictions of French contemporary life at the turn of the century are packed with social and political metaphors,” said Max Hollein, Director of The Met. “From often mysterious and unsettling scenes of the bourgeoisie to bold images of city street life, his powerful narratives and striking compositions are entirely captivating to this day.”

Highlights of the exhibition include Vallotton’s trenchant woodcuts of the 1890s, prints that built his reputation in the graphic arts while boldly messaging his anarchist politics. For the first time, Vallotton’s portrait of the legendary American collector Gertrude Stein is being displayed alongside Picasso’s famous painting of this formidable woman, which is in The Met collection. It was while posing for Picasso that Stein introduced him to Vallotton. Vallotton then painted her portrait. 

Félix Vallotton, Gertrude Stein, 1907. Oil on canvas, 100.3 × 81.3 cm. The Baltimore Museum of Art. The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, BMA 1950.300 ©Mitro Hood

Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, 1905-6. Oil on canvas, 100 x 81.3cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Gertrude Stein, 1946 (47.106). © 2019 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Arriving in Paris at the age of 16, Vallotton attended the Académie Julian, where he trained under the painters Jules Lefèbvre and Gustave Boulanger. Vallatton was a keen observer of urban life, and his illustrations proliferated in literary magazines and left-wing journals through the 1890s. While creating illustrations for the avant-garde journal La Revue Blanche, he met members of the Nabi circle, Bonnard and Vuillard in particular. Vallotton’s art of the mid-1890s aligned with their decorative patterning of form and informal technique of painting on cardboard.

While he spared no barbs satirizing the French bourgeoisie, Vallotton married into their ranks in 1899, joining the famed Bernheim-Jeune family of art dealers. Marriage to Gabrielle Rodriques-Enriques brought financial security and an end to printmaking as an essential source of revenue. Thereafter, Vallotton devoted himself exclusively to painting, dividing his time between winters in Paris and summers in Normandy with Gabrielle and her family.

Prior to its showing at The Met, the exhibition was on view at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (June 30–September 29, 2019). A catalogue published by the Royal Academy accompanies the exhibition. The book is available for purchase in The Met Store ($45).

Félix Vallotton, Bathing on a Summer Evening (Le Bain au soir d’été), 1892-93. Oil on canvas, 97 x 131 cm. Kunsthaus Zürich. Gottfried Keller Foundation, Federal Office of Culture, Bern. Acquired 1965. © Kunsthaus Zürich.

Félix Vallotton, Self-Portrait (Autoportrait), 1897. Oil on cardboard, 59.2 × 48 cm cm. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Acquired with the funds from an anonymous Canadian donor, 2007. © © RMN-Grand Palais.

Félix Vallotton, The Lie (Le Mensonge), 1897. Oil on cardboard, 24 x 33.4 cm. The Baltimore Museum of Art. The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, BMA 1950.298. Photography: Mitro Hood.

Félix Vallotton, Intimacies V: Money (Intimités V: L’Argent), 1898. Xylograph, 25 x 32.3 cm. Ville de Genève, Musées d’art et d’histoire, Don Lucien Archinard. © Musées d’art et d’histoire, Ville de Genève, Cabinet d’arts graphiques.

Félix Vallotton, The Visit (La Visite), 1899. Gouache on cardboard, 55.5 x 87 cm. Kunsthaus Zürich. Acquired 1909. © Kunsthaus Zürich.

 Félix Vallotton, Gabrielle Vallotton, 1905. Oil on canvas, 89 x 116.5 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. Photo © Mairie de Bordeaux. Photography: F. Devel.

Félix Vallotton, The White and the Black (La Blanche et la Noire), 1913. Oil on canvas, 114 × 147 cm. Kunstmuseum Bern. Hahnloser/Jaeggli Foundation, Villa Flora, Winterthur. © Hahnloser/Jaeggli Stiftung. Photography: Reto Pedrini, Zürich.

Félix Vallotton, Red Peppers (Poivrons rouges), 1915. Oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm. Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Dübi-Müller Foundation. Photo © SIK-ISEA, Zurich.

Félix Vallotton, Sandbanks on the Loire (Des Sables au bord de la Loire), 1923. Oil on canvas, 73 x 100 cm. Kunsthaus Zürich. Acquired 1938. © Kunsthaus Zürich.