.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Félix Vallotton hatte kurz vor 1900 Landschaftsbilder gemalt, auf denen er vorzugsweise von Grossstädterinnen und Grossstädtern bevölkerte freie Natur festhielt: Personen am Strand oder elegant gekleidete Frauen beim Promenieren im Park oder am Meeresufer. Das Genre der Landschaftsmalerei nahm er vor allem ab 1910 vermehrt wieder auf, und es sollte in den verbleibenden Lebensjahren sein wichtigstes Betätigungsfeld bleiben. Vallotton war damals sehr produktiv. Diszipliniert ging er jeden Tag ins Atelier und malte, solange es die Lichtverhältnisse zuliessen. Meist verfertigte der Künstler sogenannte 'paysages composés', das heisst er hielt Naturelemente zuerst in Zeichnungen fest und fügte sie - oft erst Monate später - zu einem neuen Ganzen zusammen. Damit war er weit davon entfernt, wie die Impressionisten schnelle und spontane Pleinair-Gemälde zu schaffen. Nach der Jahrhundertwende hielt er mit Vorliebe menschenleere oder fast menschenleere Landschaften fest. Beispiel dafür ist Pont sur le Béal, das in der Nähe von Cagnes in Südostfrankreich entstanden ist, wo der Maler gegen Ende seines Lebens immer wieder Zeit verbrachte; das milde Wetter verschaffte ihm gesundheitliche Linderung. Das Werk zeigt, wie Vallotton seine Gemälde durchkomponierte: Es ist ein Weg dargestellt, der geschwungen in die Tiefe und auf einen Hügel im Hintergrund führt. Das schlichte Brückengemäuer wird wegen der harten Schlagschatten betont und bildet - zusammen mit den klar und geometrisch gestalteten Mauern auf der linken Seite - einen Akzent zu den weichen Formen der übrigen Landschaft. Obwohl Vallotton nur ein sehr kleines Stück Himmel zeigt, wirkt die Darstellung offen und weit, und auch die vereinzelte winzige Figur auf dem Weg scheint in der riesigen Landschaft fast aufzugehen.
Wir danken lic. phil. Linda Schädler, Co-Kuratorin der Ausstellung 'Félix Vallotton. Idylle am Abgrund' im Kunsthaus Zürich, für diesen Textbeitrag.
Shortly before 1900 Félix elix Vallotton painted landscapes where he preferred to depict open nature busy with figures rather than cityscapes and the metropolis: people on the beach or elegantly dressed figures promenading in the park or along the shore. He resumed the genre of landscape painting with increased vigour particularly from 1910, and this would prove his most important sphere of activity for the remaining years of his life. Vallotton was very productive at that time. He went religiously every day to his studio and painted as long as the light was right. He mostly prepared what were known as paysages composés, which means that he first captured the natural elements in drawing and added these - often only months later - to a new work. In this respect his work was a long way from the Impressionists' rapid and spontaneous plein air method. After the turn of the century he preferred to capture landscapes which were empty or almost empty of figures. An example of this is Pont sur le Béal, which was painted near Cagnes in South East France, where the painter spent more and more time towards the end of his life; the mild winter being kinder to his constitution. The work shows how Vallotton worked through the composition of his paintings: depicted is a road which leads winding into the distance and up a hill in the background. The simple structure of the bridge stands out and is delineated with a hard cast shadow and, together with the clear and geometric structure of the walls on the left side, they accentuate the soft forms of the remaining landscape. Although Vallotton shows only a very small patch of sky, the effect is one of openness and distance, and even the single tiny figure on the road seems to merge into the massive landscape.
We are grateful to lic. phil. Linda Schädler, Co-Curator of the exhibition 'Félix Vallotton. Idylle am Abgrund' in the Kunsthaus Zurich, for this catalogue entry.
Wir danken lic. phil. Linda Schädler, Co-Kuratorin der Ausstellung 'Félix Vallotton. Idylle am Abgrund' im Kunsthaus Zürich, für diesen Textbeitrag.
Shortly before 1900 Félix elix Vallotton painted landscapes where he preferred to depict open nature busy with figures rather than cityscapes and the metropolis: people on the beach or elegantly dressed figures promenading in the park or along the shore. He resumed the genre of landscape painting with increased vigour particularly from 1910, and this would prove his most important sphere of activity for the remaining years of his life. Vallotton was very productive at that time. He went religiously every day to his studio and painted as long as the light was right. He mostly prepared what were known as paysages composés, which means that he first captured the natural elements in drawing and added these - often only months later - to a new work. In this respect his work was a long way from the Impressionists' rapid and spontaneous plein air method. After the turn of the century he preferred to capture landscapes which were empty or almost empty of figures. An example of this is Pont sur le Béal, which was painted near Cagnes in South East France, where the painter spent more and more time towards the end of his life; the mild winter being kinder to his constitution. The work shows how Vallotton worked through the composition of his paintings: depicted is a road which leads winding into the distance and up a hill in the background. The simple structure of the bridge stands out and is delineated with a hard cast shadow and, together with the clear and geometric structure of the walls on the left side, they accentuate the soft forms of the remaining landscape. Although Vallotton shows only a very small patch of sky, the effect is one of openness and distance, and even the single tiny figure on the road seems to merge into the massive landscape.
We are grateful to lic. phil. Linda Schädler, Co-Curator of the exhibition 'Félix Vallotton. Idylle am Abgrund' in the Kunsthaus Zurich, for this catalogue entry.