Felix Vallotton - A very strong man

Colored woodcut by Félix Édouard Vallotton (1865-1925). He was a Swiss painter and printmaker who became known around 1890 for his satirical illustrations of everyday life in a non-emotional, realistic style. Later, he joined the (Post-Impressionist) group “Les Nabis” with Vuillard, Bonnard, and Denis. In 1898, he married the wealthy widow Gabrielle Rodrigues-Henriques, a sister of the owner of the famous Parisian gallery Bernheim-Jeune. Thanks to this financial security, he no longer had to create illustrations for all kinds of magazines and could experiment with graphic techniques to his heart's content. Thus, he became an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut technique.
With incredible virtuosity, he managed to apply the dramatic contrast of black ink on white paper in radically simplified depictions of the public and private life of the Parisian bourgeoisie. Despite his immense knowledge and skill, he abandoned printmaking techniques around 1900 and turned to painting.
The offered hand-colored woodcut is possibly related to his play “Un Homme très fort” (A Very Strong Man, 1904), and is monogrammed “FV” in the plate (bottom right) and in pencil in the bottom left. Like most of his prints, this one is not numbered, so the edition size is unknown. The print is framed without a mat, in a simple wooden frame.