Paul Vallotton, the Artist`s Brother

Félix Vallotton executed this portrait of his older brother Paul in 1886. Both brothers were born into a modest Protestant family in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The work predates Félix's involvement with the Nabis, a group of young artists he would join in 1892.

At this stage, Vallotton worked in a Realist style, focusing on direct observation and careful rendering. The portrait shows Paul with the straightforward approach that characterized academic painting of the period. Félix had moved to Paris in 1882 at age sixteen to study at the Académie Julian, where he developed his technical skills before later embracing more experimental approaches.

Paul Vallotton went on to become an art dealer, founding the Galerie Paul Vallotton in Lausanne in 1922. The gallery continued under his descendants for many years. After joining the Nabis, Félix adopted flatter areas of color, harder edges, and simplified details. He earned the nickname "The Foreign Nabi" among his colleagues, who included Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and Édouard Vuillard. This early portrait shows Vallotton before that stylistic transformation.