La Paresse (1896).
Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) was a Swiss/French artist often classed among the Symbolists although few of his paintings really suit the label. The closest he comes to Symbolism is in his membership of the Nabis, a small group of artists whose approach to painting was as much concerned with the surface of the picture as with the image that surface represented, something they pursued throughout the 1890s with a revolutionary fervour. Japanese prints were popular among the Nabis, an influence which is evident in Vallotton’s woodcuts although you don’t always seen many of these in Symbolist studies. Vallotton’s paintings are of such a high standard that most of my books favour his canvases over his woodcuts, with the latter appearing, if at all, in the form of the small portraits he made of notable writers. The examples here are from a substantial collection at Wikimedia Commons which include many I haven’t seen before, including the complete set of Intimités (Intimacies), a series which shows encounters between men and women in darkened rooms.
Le Poker (1896).
Le Piston (1896).
Le Piano (1896).
La Flûte (1896).
La Guitare (1897).
La Symphonie (1897).
Intimités III (1898).
Intimités IV (1898).
Intimités V (1898).
Intimités VII (1898).
Intimités VIII (1898).
L’Âge du Papier (1898).
Fireworks, The World’s Fair VI (1901).
L’Assassinat (1893).
Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Henri van der Stok, 1870–1946
• The art of Simon Moulijn, 1866–1948
• The art of Frantisek Kobliha, 1877–1962
A master of black and white graphics. Just look at the balance in those images! I wonder what he thought of Beardsley?
I expect he’d have admired Beardsley’s own treatment of black and white even if he didn’t like the subject matter. Vallotton was more of a realist than Beardsley so he may have found Aubrey too frivolous or flippant in some of his drawings.
Sorry to add a comment on a subject unrelated to this post, but wanted to remark on yesterday being the third anniversary of Jon Hassell’s death. Over four decades after first hearing his music, I continue to marvel at it. The tributes after his passing seemed to only recognise Possible Musics and sometimes Power Spot, while City, Bluescreen, Fascinoma and Maarifa went unremarked. There seem to have been many references to Fourth World-esque artists since then, but I’ve yet to hear any instrumentalist approach his sui generis originality and variety. (And right on cue his haunting tone is heard on Zazou’s Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses…)
Hi Colin. I’d guess that most of his later albums would have gone unmentioned because the people writing about him wouldn’t have heard them, especially the more recent ones which have yet to be reissued. I’m always wondering when Aka-Darbari-Java is going to be reissued, it’s been stuck in post-EG limbo along with Michael Brook’s Hybrid and a few other albums for far too long.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Vallotton#/media/File:Aubrey_Beardsley_by_Vallotton.jpg
Thanks, Caspar, that’s one I’d missed until now. The portraits of writers are reprinted the most, especially the one of Lautréamont which makes him look older than he managed to be.
I guess you’re right John, though if you love an album, don’t you explore that artist’s other work? It really doesn’t seem like anything from his allegedly copious vaults is going to see the light of the day, which is disappointing. I already have all his work on vinyl that was released on that medium, so am not particularly excited about reissues. And I’m quite happy having everything on CD too. I treasure the bootlegs, the late work unheard after The Moon… and before the awfully disappointing final two albums. I’m mostly happy with what’s extant and listening more deeply to it.
Music writers have always been the worst breed of cultural commentators so I try not to expect to much of them. There are many exceptions, obviously, but standards remain woefully low among those people who use words like “iconic” and “sophomore” simply because they’ve seen other writers doing the same.
I did ask Jon once why his EG albums had gone unreleased for so long when other albums from the Editions series had been reissued (this was before two of them did get reissued). He never responded to the question so I didn’t press the point.