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 of Madeleine Lecomte du Nouÿ, Paris. - Estate of Madeleine Lecomte du Nouÿ, Paris. - Auction: Mes. Rheims & Laurin, Paris, November 26, 1971, lot 185. - Private collection, Geneva. Exhibited: - Paris, 1914, “Expositions de peintures de Félix Vallotton,” Galerie Druet, May 4–16, 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, January 23–February 24, 1957, no. 118, as “Femme blonde couchée” (verso with label). - Winterthur, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Paris, and Geneva 1978/79, Félix Vallotton. Paintings. Drawings. Prints, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, October 1–November 12, 1978; Kunsthalle Bremen, December 3, 1978–January 28, 1979; Musée du Petit Palais, April 11–June 18, 1979; Musée Rath, July–September; no. 122, as “Femme couchée dans un lit, nue jusqu’à la taille, petit bleu sur le drap” (label on the reverse). - Lausanne 1985, Félix Vallotton. Oils and Woodcuts, Galerie Vallotton, May 2–25, 1985, no. 16. - Lausanne 1986, Swiss and French Masters, Galerie Vallotton, June 25–August 30, 1986, no. 100, as “Blonde Woman in a Little Blue Dress.” Bibliography: - Félix Vallotton: “Livre de raison. List of my works, paintings and prints, arranged in chronological order, beginning in 1885,” in: Catalogue 1938, Zurich, Félix Vallotton. 1865–1925, pp. 37–99, no. 981, as “Blonde woman lying in bed, nude from the waist up, plain gray background (T40). Little blue on the sheet.” - Exhibition catalog Félix Vallotton 1865–1925, Paris 1955, no. 34. - Exhibition catalog Félix Vallotton, Basel 1957, no. 118. - Exhibition catalog Félix Vallotton. Paintings. Drawings. Graphics, Winterthur, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Paris, and Geneva 1978/79, p. 196, no. 122. - Günter Busch: Félix Vallotton. Life and Work, Frauenfeld 1982, p. 205. - Exhibition catalog *Félix Vallotton: Oils and Woodcuts*, Lausanne 1985, no. 16 (ill.). - Marina Ducrey: *Félix Vallotton (1865–1925). Painted Works. Catalogue Raisonné, Zurich and Lausanne 2005, vol. III, p. 593, no. 1045 (ill.). In his intimate scenes centered on female figures, Vallotton goes beyond merely depicting their bodies. Instead, he hints at stories whose circumstances remain unclear. The melancholy atmosphere of “Le petit bleu” stems as much from the chosen color 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 via 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.