Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Félix Vallotton
Félix Vallotton was a Swiss-born painter linked to the Nabis, known for unsettling interiors, sharp contours, enigmatic figures, and stark color contrasts.
Félix Vallotton quick facts
Vallotton's printmaking shaped his precise silhouettes and flat colors; he later painted psychologically charged rooms and carefully composed landscapes.
| Born | 1865 · Lausanne, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Died | 1925 · Paris, France |
| Nationality | Swiss; later a French citizen |
| Movements | Nabis (brief association) |
| Paint types | Oil Paint · Gouache Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Wood · Cardboard |
| Painting methods | Crisp contours, simplified color areas, sharply cropped interiors, and studio compositions developed from sketches or photographs |
| Common subjects | Domestic interiors, couples, women, still lifes, Provençal landscapes, and urban scenes |
| Notable works | The Ball · Street Scene in Paris · The Cook · Landscape at Saint-Jeannet, Provence |
| Other practice | Woodcut prints with bold black-and-white contrasts informed his graphic handling of painted subjects |
Sources: The Met: Vallotton's Nabi years and paintings, The Met: Street Scene in Paris, gouache and oil on cardboard, The Met: Landscape at Saint-Jeannet, Provence, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art: Vallotton oil paintings.
Paint types used
Vallotton painted oils on canvas and wood panel, and sometimes combined opaque gouache with oil for smaller scenes on cardboard.
Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, drying to a matte finish that can be reactivated with water.
Surface types used
His paintings appear on canvas, wood panel, and cardboard, with each support documented in Metropolitan Museum of Art collection or exhibition records.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Wood
Wood is a natural, porous material whose grain, absorbency, knots, resin, species, and existing finish all influence paint preparation and adhesion.
Cardboard
Cardboard is a lightweight, absorbent paper-based sheet material whose fibers and corrugated layers can soften or warp when exposed to heavy wet coats.
Painters similar to Félix Vallotton
Bonnard and Vuillard knew Vallotton in the Nabi circle and likewise explored flattened forms and intimately observed interior scenes.
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter associated with the Nabis, known for richly colored domestic interiors, gardens, patterned surfaces, and intimate scenes.
Édouard Vuillard
Édouard Vuillard was a French painter known for intimate interiors, gardens, patterned surfaces, and decorative compositions in distemper, oil, watercolor, and gouache.