3044 - FÉLIX VALLOTTON

FÉLIX VALLOTTON (Lausanne 1865–1925 Paris) Le petit bleu. 1914. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated upper right: F. VALLOTTON. 14. 81 × 101 cm. Provenance: - Estate of Félix Vallotton, Paris. - Private collection Madeleine Lecomte du Nouÿ, Paris. - Estate of Madeleine Lecomte du Nouÿ, Paris. - Auction Mes. Rheims & Laurin Paris, 26 November 1971, lot 185. - Private collection, Geneva. Exhibited: - Paris 1914, Expositions de peintures de Félix Vallotton, Galerie Druet, 4–16 May 1914, no. 18, as ‘Le petit bleu’. - Paris 1955, Félix Vallotton 1865–1925, Maison de la pensée française, April–June 1955, no. 34, as ‘Femme blonde couchée’ (verso with label). - Basel 1957, Félix Vallotton, Kunsthalle Basel, 23 January–24 February 1957, no. 118, as ‘Femme blonde couchée’ (verso with label). - Winterthur, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Paris and Geneva 1978/79, Félix Vallotton. Bilder. Zeichnungen. Graphik, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 1 October–12 November 1978; Kunsthalle Bremen, 3 December 1978–28 January 1979; Musée du Petit Palais, 11 April–18 June 1979; Musée Rath, July–September; no. 122, as ‘Femme couchée dans un lit, nue jusqu’à la taille, petit bleu sur le drap’ (verso with label). - Lausanne 1985, Félix Vallotton. Huiles et xylographies, Galerie Vallotton, 2–25 May 1985, no. 16. - Lausanne 1986, Maîtres suisses et français, Galerie Vallotton, 25 June–30 August 1986, no. 100, as ‘Femme blonde au petit bleu’. Literature: - Félix Vallotton: ‘Livre de raison. Liste de mes œuvres, peintures et gravures, faite dans l’ordre chronologique, à partir de 1885’, in: Catalogue 1938, Zurich, Félix Vallotton. 1865–1925, pp. 37–99, no. 981, as ‘Femme blonde couchée dans un lit nue jusqu’à la taille, fond gris uni (T40). petit bleu sur le drap’. - Exhibition catalogue Félix Vallotton 1865–1925, Paris 1955, no. 34. - Exhibition catalogue Félix Vallotton, Basel 1957, no. 118. - Exhibition catalogue Félix Vallotton. Bilder. Zeichnungen. Graphik, Winterthur, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Paris and Geneva 1978/79, p. 196, no. 122. - Günter Busch: Félix Vallotton. Leben und Werk, Frauenfeld 1982, p. 205. - Exhibition catalogue Félix Vallotton. Huiles et xylographies, Lausanne 1985, no. 16 (ill.). - Marina Ducrey: Félix Vallotton (1865–1925). L’œuvre peint. Catalogue raisonné, Zurich and Lausanne 2005, vol. III, p. 593, no. 1045 (ill.). In his intimate scenes centred on female figures, Vallotton goes beyond depicting their bodies. Instead, he hints at stories whose circumstances remain uncertain. The melancholy atmosphere of ‘Le petit bleu’ arises as much from the chosen palette as from the young woman’s expression. Her ‘regard bleu’ – the cool, penetrating gaze of her pale blue eyes – seems to reflect her soul without revealing her thoughts. At the same time, an intriguing play on words emerges between her blue gaze and the ‘petit bleu’, the blue express message delivered through the Paris pneumatic postal system, which now lies open on the bed. Whether its contents account for the young woman’s pensive mood is a question Vallotton leaves unanswered.