Félix Vallotton

Swiss-French, 1865-1925

Felix Vallotton was one of the most prominent figures in the development of the modern woodcut. His signature style, which evokes post-Impressionism, Symbolism, and ukiyo-e, takes advantage of the high-contrast possibilities of the woodcut, rather than attempting to imitate painting with hatching and gradation as did earlier woodcut artists. Vallotton’s starkly reductive black-and-white compositions led to the revitalization of the true woodcut as an artistic medium.