Felix Vallotton : fire beneath the ice

As a member of the artist group 'Les Nabis' (the prophets), the French-Swiss artist Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) was at the artistic forefront of Paris during the fin de siècle. He became internationally renowned for his powerful black-and-white woodcuts, which were unparalleled both in style and technique as well as in ambience. They contain a latent tension or threatening quality and the humour is often paired with biting social criticism. Vallotton was an innovator without breaking with traditions; he sought modern solutions for classical themes. He was a keen observer, a sombre and bitter man who kept distance between himself and the world, yet was able to masterfully reproduce the cruelty and absurdity of it in his work. His powerful and colourful paintings show seemingly everyday scenes, yet with a sense of the surreal and an explosiveness that is enhanced by his cool, distant style of painting: the fire beneath the ice. This richly illustrated book provides an overview of all facets of Vallotton's oeuvre and offers a new perspective on this intriguing artist who, after 20 years, is once again being honoured with an exhibition in the Netherlands. Marina Ducrey and Katia Poletti are linked to the Fondation Félix Vallotton in Lausanne as conservators and have compiled the Catalogue raisonné (2005) of the painted oeuvre of Félix Vallotton. Isabelle Cahn is head conservator at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho and Nienke Bakker are respectively Conservator Pictures and Drawings and Conservator Exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum.