Vallotton, Félix |
| PAINTER, WRITER (SWITZERLAND) |
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BORN 28 Dec 1865, Lausanne, Vaud - DIED 29 Dec 1925, Paris BIRTH NAME Valloton, Félix Edouard GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière du Montparnasse, 3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet (division 28) |
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Félix Valloton was the son of a pharmacist. At the Collège Cantonal he graduated in claasical studies in 1882. He went to Paris where he lived in the Rue Jacob and entered the Académie Julian, where he studied under Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger. In the Louvre he sudied the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer, Goya and Manet. In 1885 he started his Livre de Raison in which he listed all his paintings and in the same year he debuted at the Salon. In 1889 he met Hélene Chatenay who became his companion for ten years. He exhibited at the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris, but he couldn't live from his paintings and he worked as an art restorer as well as an art critic for La Gazette de Lausanne. In 1891 he exhibited at the Salon des Independants and he started to receive commissions from Switzerland. In 1892 he joined Les Nabis, a group that included Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard. Vuillard became a lifelong friend. By now his work had gained in popularity and he could live from it. The Dreyfuss affair divided Les Nabis, with Vallotton defending Dreyfuss. In 1899 he married Gabrielle Rodrigues-Hénriques (d.1932), a widow and the daughter of the art dealer Alexandre Bernheim. She brought three children with her. They lived at a large apartment near the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris. In 1900 he became a French citizen. In 1903 he had a solo exhibition at the Bernheim gallery and in that year the French government acquired one of his paintings. After an exhibition at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in 1907 he was able to sell thirteen paintings. In 1912 he refused the Legion of Honor like Bonnard and Vuillard had done before him. In 1914 he volunteered for the army but he was too old. After the war he painted mostly still lifes. He died after surgery for cancer in Paris in 1925. Related persons • painted Baudelaire, Charles • painted Stein, Gertrude |
| Images | |
 Plaque commemorating the birthplace of Félix Valloton. Picture by Androom (05 Dec 2007) |
 The grave of Félix Vallotton at Montparnasse Cimetière, Paris. Picture by Androom (31 Oct 2019) |
