Félix Vallotton

Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) revived the art of the woodcut and brought it into the modern age. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, he moved to Paris at seventeen to study at the Académie Julian. Early portraits showed academic precision, influenced by visits to the Louvre where he studied Holbein, Ingres, and Dürer. In 1892, he joined Les Nabis, a semi-mystical group of young artists that included Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Yet he never quite fit in, earning the nickname "le Nabi étranger" (the foreign Nabi).

Between 1891 and 1902, Vallotton produced over 100 woodcuts that brought him international recognition. Characterized by bold masses of black and white with minimal detail, they depicted street scenes, bathers, portraits, and the series Intimités, showing charged domestic encounters between men and women. These prints influenced Edvard Munch, Aubrey Beardsley, and the German Expressionists Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Art historians credit Vallotton with reviving the woodcut as a serious artistic medium.

In 1899, he married Gabrielle Rodrigues-Henriques, daughter of a wealthy art dealer. Financial security allowed him to focus on painting, producing portraits, nudes, and landscapes in a cool, detached style. World War I prompted his final print series, This is War (1915–16). He died in Paris in 1925, a day after his sixtieth birthday. The Félix Vallotton Foundation in Lausanne preserves his legacy. Works are at the Musée d'Orsay, Metropolitan Museum, Tate, and Hermitage.