3037 - EDOUARD VALLET

EDOUARD VALLET (Geneva 1876–1929 Cressy) Soir à Riod. 1912. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: ED. VAllET. 91 × 125 cm. Provenance: - Winterthur Insurance Collection, acquired on the occasion of the exhibition in 1957. - Private collection, Winterthur, Switzerland. - Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above. Exhibited: - Zurich 1914, Märzausstellung, Kunsthaus Zürich, 8 March–5 April 1914, no. 86, as ‘Hameau en montagne’. - Geneva 1914, Edouard Vallet, Galerie Moos, 20 April–20 May 1914, no. 7, as ‘Hameau en montagne’. - Pittsburgh 1920, Nineteenth Annual International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Art Institute, 29 April–30 June 1920, no. 336, as ‘Mountain Village: Valais, Switzerland’. - Zurich 1929, Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Edouard Vallet, Kunsthaus Zürich, 25 August–22 September 1929, no. 104, as ‘Abend in Vercorin’. - Geneva 1929, Rétrospective Edouard Vallet, Musée d’art et d’histoire, 26 October–24 November 1929, no. 15, as ‘Soir à Vercorin’. - Basel 1931, Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Edouard Vallet, Kunsthalle Basel, 7–29 March 1931, no. 46, as ‘Soir à Vercorin’. - Montreux 1943, Exposition Edouard Vallet, Casino-Kursaal, 17 April–16 May 1943, no. 8, as ‘Soir à Hérémence’. - Geneva 1944, Exposition Edouard Vallet, Musée Athénée, 11–30 March 1944, no. 29, as ‘Soir à Hérémence’. - Geneva 1953, Exposition Edouard Vallet, Musée Rath, 23 August–27 September 1953, no. 92, as ‘Soir à Hérémence’. - Sion 1954, Exposition Edouard Vallet, Musée de la Majorie, 25 June–27 September 1954, no. 38, as ‘Soir à Hérémence’. - Winterthur 1957, Ausstellung Edouard Vallet, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 11 August–22 September 1957, no. 8, as ‘Abend in Hérémence’. - Trubschachen 1966, Schweizer Maler. Die Welt der Bauern, 18 June–10 July 1966, no. 255, as ‘Abend in Hérémence’. - Geneva, Martigny, Chur and Schaffhausen 1976/77, Centenaire Edouard Vallet. Exposition itinérante, Musée Rath, 29 April–30 May 1976; Manoir, 13 June–12 September 1976; Bündner Kunstmuseum, 2 October–7 November 1976; Museum zu Allerheiligen, 20 November 1976–3 January 1977, no. 49, as ‘Soir à Hérémence’. - Martigny 2006/07, Edouard Vallet. L’art d’un regard, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 17 November 2006–4 March 2007, no. 42, as ‘Soir à Riod’. Literature: - Exhibition catalogue Märzausstellung, Zurich 1914, p. 6, no. 86. - Exhibition catalogue Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Edouard Vallet, Zurich 1929, p. 10, no. 104. - Exhibition catalogue Exposition Edouard Vallet, Geneva 1944, no. 29. - Exhibition catalogue Exposition Edouard Vallet, Geneva 1953, no. 92. - Exhibition catalogue Exposition Edouard Vallet, Sion 1954, no. 38. - Exhibition catalogue Ausstellung Edouard Vallet, Winterthur 1957, p. 10, no. 8. - Nane Bettex-Cailler: ‘Edouard Vallet 1876–1929’, in: Les Cahiers d’Art-documents, no. 116, Geneva 1959, p. 12 (ill.). - Calendar 1962, published by the Schweizerische Unfallversicherungs-Gesellschaft Winterthur, with reproductions of paintings by Edouard Vallet, as ‘Coucher de soleil à Hérémence’. - Exhibition catalogue Centenaire Edouard Vallet. Exposition itinérante, Geneva, Martigny, Chur and Schaffhausen 1976/77, p. 45, no. 49 (ill.). - Bernard Wyder and Jacques Dominique Rouiller: Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint d’Edouard Vallet, Geneva 2006, p. 529, no. 323 (ill. p. 363). - Exhibition catalogue Edouard Vallet. L’art d’un regard, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny 2006, p. 95, no. 42 (ill.). With ‘Soir à Riod’, painted in 1912, Édouard Vallet created one of the most important works in his oeuvre. At the time, he was living and working with his wife Marguerite in the high-lying village of Riod above Hérémence. At an altitude of 1,440 metres, largely secluded from the outside world, Vallet found conditions that suited his artistic vision: tranquillity, closeness to nature and an opportunity to focus on the simple routines of daily life. Bernard Wyder identifies the years in Riod as a decisive period in Vallet’s life and work. They also marked his breakthrough in German-speaking Switzerland. His first solo exhibition at the Kunstsalon Wolfsberg in Zurich in 1912 proved an unexpected success. Leading collectors from Basel and Zurich acquired his works. Shortly afterwards, Vallet himself wrote that he had scarcely dared to hope for such a reception. A broad, winding path draws the eye deep into the village, past a fountain, fences and timber houses. Its bright patches of snow and muted browns and greens structure the composition. The houses and contours of the terrain are simplified, their angular outlines contrasting with the sweeping curves of the path. Picturesque detail gives way to the painterly and sculptural qualities of the subject, which Bernard Wyder identifies as central to Vallet’s conception of landscape. Earthy greens, browns and violets are set agai