“The life I live is literally the opposite of the life I dreamed of. I love seclusion, silence, cultivated thinking and reasoned action—and I have to deal with machinations, foolish talk and vain affectation.” ~ Félix Edouard Vallotton

“Evening on the Loire” (1923, oil on canvas)
by Félix Edouard Vallotton

                   

“Félix Vallotton’s art is imbued with a biting sarcasm and black humor that established him as an internationally acclaimed avant-garde artist of the modern period. His images are disturbing, revealing and captivating.” ~ Daniel Richter

Another artist with whom I am currently fascinated: Franco-Swiss painter and print-maker Félix Edouard Vallotton (1865-1925). I am drawn to his landscapes and sunsets, of course.

A good biography can be found on Totally History. A fairly comprehensive listing of his artwork can be found on The Anthenaeum website or on Museum Syndicate.

Here is a selection of my favorites:

“The Entrance to the Villa Beaulieu in Honfleur or Before the Storm (1916, oil on canvas)

“Maisons et Roseaux” (1921-24, oil )

“Pont sur le Béal” (1922, oil on canvas)

“Les Cygnes” (1892, woodcut on wove paper)

“Evening tendency with Ploumanach or Evening Scene” (nd_

“Gulls” (1922

“Paysage Composé sous-bois” (1918, oil on canvas)

“A Grey Day, Varengeville” (1904, oil on canvas)

“The Blossoming Field” (1912, oil on canvas)

“The Point Neuf” (1901, oil on canvas)

“The Family of Trees” (1922, oil on canvas)

“Autumn Crocuses” (1900, oil on cardboard)

“Sunset at Grace, Orange and Violet Sky”

“Twilight” (1904. oil on canvas)

“Moonlight or Claire de Lune” (1895, oil on canvas))

To Lay Down Sun with Villerville (1917, oil on canvas)

“Landscape at Sunset” (1919, oil on canvas)

“Sunset Grey-Blue High Tide” (1911, oil on canvas)

“View of Cagne from Horseback” (1921, oil on canvas)

“The Lake in the Bois de Boulogne” (1921)

“First Rays” (1921, oil on canvas)

Music by Kari Kimmel, “Dreamer”

                   

Art Sanctuary

I would always choose to be the person running
rather than the mob chasing
I would prefer to be the person laughed at
rather than the teenagers laughing
I always admired the men and women who sat down
for their rights
And held in disdain the men and women who spat
on them
Everyone deserves Sanctuary a place to go where you are
safe
Art offers Sanctuary to everyone willing
to open their hearts as well as their eyes

~ Nikki Giovanni