Vallotton, Félix

Vallotton, Félix (b Lausanne, 28 Dec. 1865; d Paris, 28 Dec. 1925). Swiss-born painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who settled in Paris in 1882 and became a French citizen in 1900. In the 1890s he worked a good deal in woodcut, and apart from Gauguin he was the most important French pioneer of the revival of this medium. During the same period he exhibited with the Nabis (he was a friend of Bonnard and Vuillard). After the turn of the century he concentrated on painting; in his canvases he took over something of the simplifications of form and sharp contrasts between blocks of light and shadow that characterize his woodcuts. His subjects included landscapes, portraits, nudes, and interiors. In 1930 his novel La Vie meurtrière was posthumously published; it is autobiographical and illustrated by himself.