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an image of a painting of a woman sitting on a beachan image of a painting of a woman sitting on the beachan image of a painting of a woman with a hat on her headan old picture frame with a picture of a red and white floral patterna sculpture of a man standing in a room with a picture on the wall
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Estimate €60,000 - €80,000
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Félix VALLOTTON Blonde Woman Crouching, View from Behind – 1918 Oil on canvas mounted on board Signature stamp and date on the reverse: “F. VALLOTTON. 18” Artist’s register: Lrz 1200: “blonde woman, crouching from behind on yellow sand against a dark blue sky 17 1/5-14” 17.8 x 13.9 cm Provenance: Estate of F. Vallotton, Paris Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques Gallery, Paris Jean-Arthur Fontaine Collection, Paris (1930) Auction, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Maître Bellier, Jean-Arthur Fontaine Collection, 2 December 1936, lot 46 (titled ‘Kneeling Nude’) Paul Nivard Collection, France, then passed down through the family Auction, Paris, Artcurial, 4 June 2024, lot 1 Acquired at this auction by the current owner Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection Exhibitions: Paris, Galerie Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques, Retrospective exhibition of previously unseen works by Félix Vallotton (1865–1925), March 1928, no. 41 (titled ‘Nude from behind, crouching’) Bibliography: F. Fosca, “The Jean-Arthur Fontaine Collection (first article)”, in *L’Amour de l’art*, Paris, vol. 11, no. 4, April 1930, p. 167 M. Ducrey, Félix Vallotton, l’œuvre peint, catalogue raisonné, vol. III, Félix Vallotton Foundation, Lausanne, Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich, 5 Continents, Milan, 2005, no. 1265, reproduced in black and white on p. 697 Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard; stamped with the signature and dated on the reverse; 7 x 5 1/2 in.   A painter and writer, an artist defying categorisation, Félix Vallotton occupies a unique place in the modern art of the turn of the 20th century, having joined the French Nabis group in 1892. From the turn of the century onwards, he embarked on a personal path: that of a cool realism, the influence of which would prove decisive on the Italian Pittura metafisica as well as on the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) in Germany and Switzerland (fig. 1). After 1900, Félix Vallotton devoted himself more to the female nude, which became the main theme of his painting (fig. 2). He began with a series of bathers and studies of women at their dressing tables, before going on to produce, in the years that followed, large-scale compositions with allegorical significance. His nudes fall into several categories: allegorical or historical paintings, and physiognomic portraits. In this work, dated 1918, the nude model has her back to the viewer, thus remaining anonymous. Although her identity is concealed, Vallotton nevertheless imbues her with a distinctive presence through the power of her silhouette. Her hourglass figure particularly highlights the natural beauty of her body. The sole figure in a minimalist setting, the nude woman appears to be in slight motion. This tension hints at the beginning of a narrative, through the slight turn of her head to the left, her right foot bent and her right hand resting on the ground, as if the model were about to suddenly stand up and turn round. The pale complexion, enhanced by greenish tones that emphasise the contours, contributes to the modelling of the body. It is reminiscent of the works of Kees Van Dongen, who embraced Fauvism – a movement spurned by Vallotton. The body stands out against a two-tone background—bright blue for the wall and ochre for the floor—whilst the golden-blonde hair contrasts strikingly with the background. By choosing this viewpoint, Vallotton places the viewer in the position of an observer or a voyeur, facing this figure who is at once distant and unsettling. After 1908, Félix Vallotton’s work—and more particularly his nudes—can be seen as a precursor to hyperrealism (fig. 3). His art is based on a striking contrast between technical precision and an emotion deliberately contained within stillness. He exposes the falsehood of the bourgeois dream through a repressed, cold and rigid art, whose world is built upon a dichotomy: interior and exterior, the beholder and the beheld, or, as here, subject and object. A painter of disillusionment and dissimulation, Vallotton does not seek to reproduce the visible world, but to reveal its contradictions. Behind the silent surface of his canvases, he acts as a chronicler of the unspoken, conveying the psychological and moral complexity of his time. Fig. 1: Félix Vallotton, Study for Woman Seated with Her Back Turned, 1915, graphite and stump on notebook page Fig. 2: Félix Vallotton, Bather with Seagulls, 1919, oil on canvas Fig. 3: Félix Vallotton, Bather Seated on the Sand, 1916, oil on canvas Félix VALLOTTON 17.8 x 13.9 cm A painter and writer, an artist impossible to categorise, Félix Vallotton – who joined the French group Les Nabis in 1892 – occupies a unique place at the dawn of 20th-century modernism. From the turn of the century onwards, he embarked on a path of his own: that of a cold realism, the influence of which would prove decisive for Italian Pittura Metafisica (Metaphysical Art) as well as for Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) in Germany and Switzerland (ill. 1). After 1900, Vallotton turned his attention increasingly to the female nude, which became the central theme of his painting (ill. 2). He began with a series of bathers and studies of women at their ‘toilette’, before going on to produce, in the years that followed, large-scale allegorical compositions. His nudes fall into different categories: allegorical, historical and portraits. In this work, dated 1918, the nude model has her back to the viewer, allowing her to remain anonymous. Although her identity is concealed, Vallotton nevertheless imbues her with a distinctive presence through the power of her silhouette. Her hourglass figure particularly emphasises the natural beauty of her body. The sole figure in a minimalist setting, she appears to be animated by a slight movement. This tension marks the beginning of a narrative, through the slight turn of her head to the left, her right foot bent and her right hand resting, as if she were about to suddenly stand up and turn round. Her pale skin, enhanced by green tones that emphasise the contours, contributes to the modelling of the body. This is reminiscent of the work of Kees Van Dongen, who embraced the Fauvist style that Vallotton had rejected. The body stands out against a two-tone background – bright blue for the wall and ochre for the floor – whilst her golden blonde hair creates a striking contrast with the background. By choosing this viewpoint, Vallotton places the viewer in the position of an observer or a voyeur, confronted with this figure who is at once distant and unsettling. After 1908, the work of Félix Vallotton, particularly his nudes, appears to foreshadow hyperrealism (ill. 3). His art relies on a striking contrast between technical precision and an emotion that is intentionally contained within stillness. It is a repressed, cold and rigid art, whose world is built upon a dichotomy: interior and exterior, the viewer and the viewed, or, as here, subject and object. A painter of disillusionment and dissimulation, Vallotton does not seek to reproduce the visible world but to unmask its contradictions. Behind the silent surface of his canvases, he becomes the chronicler of the unsaid, conveying the psychological and moral complexity of his time. Fig. 1: Félix Vallotton, Study for Woman Seated with Her Back Turned, 1915, graphite and stump on notebook page Fig. 2: Félix Vallotton, Bather with Seagulls, 1919, oil on canvas Fig. 3: Félix Vallotton, Bather Seated on the Sand, 1916, oil on canvas
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About the sale The Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 4:00 PM
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