Félix Vallotton - Quatre baigneurs à Étretat

Date	1899
Period	19th century
Origin	Suisse
Medium	Oil on cardboard
Dimensions	27 x 34 cm (10⁵/₈ x 13³/₈ inches)
Gallery	Helene Bailly Gallery

Description
Technical

Félix Vallotton stayed in Etretat during the summer 1899 with his wife and their first-born child. Those few weeks would mark an important turning point in his work. Having bought a Kodak (number 2 Bulls-Eye, 1898 model), the painter indeed inaugurated his photographic practice
precisely at this moment. Private shots, family universe, summer scenes and sea baths soon became his favourite source, perhaps the templates of a great number of his paintings.
"Quatre Baigneurs à Etretat" is part of a theme that Vallotton loved to develop. He seemed partly
inspired by Daumier's caricatures from the series "Les Baigneurs". The viewer is dived into the close vision of a couple of vacacioners who are teaching their son how to swim. The bold bottom view seems directly inspired by the photographic art newly vested by Vallotton.

Date: 1899
Period: 19th century
Origin: Suisse
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Signature: Signed and dated lower left : F. Vallotton ; 99

Dimensions: 27 x 34 cm (10⁵/₈ x 13³/₈ inches)
Provenance: Succession F. Vallotton, Paris.
J. Rodrigues-Henriques, Paris.
Marcel Guérin, Paris, circa 1930.
Daniel Guérin - Sale Paule Cailac, Paris Drouot, June 28th, 1951, n°130.
Vallotton Gallery, Lausanne, n°8572. Label on the back.
Maurice Gilbert, Geneva, 1952.
Private collection - Sale Me Renaud, Drouot, Paris, December 19th, 2001, n°5.

Literature: Paul Morand, Bains de mer, Bains de rêve, Éditions La Guilde du Livre / Clairefontaine, Lausanne, 1960, illustrated p.21.
Rudolf Koella, Das Bild der Landschaft im Schaffen von Félix Vallotton, Zurich, 1969, p.107.
Marina Ducrey, Katia Poletti, Félix Vallotton : L'oeuvre peint, Tome II,
Fondation Félix Vallotton, Institut suisse pour l'étude de l'art,
Lausanne/ Zurich, 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2005, illustrated under the n°276, p.169.

Exhibitions: Félix Vallotton, Paris, 1923, n°31.
Félix Vallotton, 1928, Paris, n°9.
Bonnard, Vuillard et les Nabis : 1888-1903, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris,
June 8th - October 2nd 1955, n°169, pl. XIV. Label on the back.
Félix Vallotton, Kunsthaus, Zurich, April 10th - May 30th 1965, n°51.
Vallotton, Palais des beaux-arts, Charleroi, December 17th 1966 - January 15th 1967, n°31. Label on the back.
10th Anniversary Exhibition, Dreamed Chilhoods - Bonnard, the Nabis and the childhood, Mitsubishi Ishigokan Museum, Tokyo, February 15th - Juen 7th
2020 (loan request) Bonnard, les Nabis et l'enfance, Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, June 27th - November 1st 2020 (loan request).

Categories: Paintings, Drawings & Prints