All PostsA few woodcuts from the Swiss artist Félix Vallotton (who, it turns out, died on my birthday in 1925). I’ve always loved woodcuts and his are amazing. It’s hard to believe some of them are woodcuts at all. It takes a fine hand and tremendous skill to get linework like that (I know I did woodcuts a lot in art school).
It took me a few time to notice the abstract soldiers (helmets and bayonets) moving through the trenches.
This one is most notable for its contrast with the other much more black images (not just in my selection but across his graphic works that I’ve seen). Perfect placement of the black hair. Great flat dresser/lamp at the left. Excellent use of the large white space in the upper right.
The texture in this one is amazing, as well as the foggy area that obscures the dog.
These last two are part of a series. Massive black areas like that can be a dangerous compositional tool. If done poorly it looks like laziness, but when done right, oh so beautiful. Despite it’s completely lopsided composition, that last print works perfectly.
All images by Félix Vallotton from:
Vallotton, Félix et al. Félix Vallotton. München: Hirmer Verlag, 1995.
These are fantastic! Thanks for sharing them.
I thought you’d appreciate them, Austin. I’ve got another book of his work to go through. Probably have more images to post soon.
Nice to see another fan of woodcuts. Have you seen my book Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels, which covers many woodcut novels of the early 20th century? Links are on my website.
Hi David. Your book is on one of my “to read” lists.
Derik, I love these.
I’m terrified by my recent mania for art books — such an expensive vice.
Hope all it well. It’s been a long, long time since you visited PDB.
Hey Derik,
I just came across this post doing a Google search for Vallotton after being reminded of him in the NYRB translation of Novels in Three Lines by Félix Fénéon (which you should check out if you haven’t already). Nice collection of stuff, I’m going to copy some in my sketchbook.
Growing up, my parents had a poster for a show of his with a large reproduction of a beautiful woodcut called La Paresse which is engraved (sorry to mix printing technique metaphors) in my visual memory.
Matt
I read some of the Feneon but got a little bored with it. I think it’s not a good book to just read straight through.
It would be a great candidate for one of those blogs where a book is posted in small chunks one day at a time.