Louis Valtat (1869 - 1952) - Bouquet Of Peonies, Circa 1920

Un bouquet de pivoines, circa 1920, by Louis Valtat; a cheerful painting in vibrant colours and materials.

Oil on canvas 
Monogrammed lower right
Dimensions: 44 x 34 cm
with frame: 67 x 57 cm
Louis XIV carved wooden frame

Louis Valtat, a great colourist and precursor of Fauvism

The intensity of the contrasts in this great colourist's work and the boldness of his tonalities make him a precursor of Fauvism.
In 1896, Louis Valtat taught at the École des Beaux-arts in Paris. His pupils included Matisse, Rouault, Puy, Marquet, Camoin and Manguin. For this follower of Gustave Moreau, colour not only tends to evoke reality but can also be enriched with symbolic value. Experimenting with simplified forms containing pure colours in his own paintings done in Arcachon during the winter of 1895-96, he was ten years ahead of his pupils in announcing a triumph in which he would participate.

A still life with acidulous colours and vibrant matter

Still lifes, with their daring mixtures of colours, occupy a special place in Louis Valtat's work. 

The multiplicity of strokes forming the petals and leaves, as well as the colourful motifs of the tablecloth and the porcelain jug with their floral decorations, give free rein to the artist's talent and boldness as a colourist, bringing a vibrant intensity to the canvas.


Biography


The discreet, prolific and inventive Louis Valtat belonged to several groups at the same time, outside a real school but with an asserted independent personality. Very often he was a precursor or a premonitory artist - a Fauve without knowing it, a Nabi before his time, a Pointillist in particular... His work, constantly moving forward, changes, always preceding a movement as the painter discovers new things, constantly encountering surprises and discoveries.
Louis Valtat frequented the greatest neo-impressionist, Fauvist and Nabis artists in Paris, Brittany and Provence, and took part in group exhibitions such as the Salon des Indépendants in 1889 and the Salon d'Automne in 1905 (famous for spotting the Fauvists), as well as solo exhibitions in the Vollard and Druet galleries in Paris.
His stays on the Côte d'Azur and in Marseille introduced him to artists who were just as keen on colour as the Fauves, such as Georges d'Espagnat, Paul Gervais, Armand Guillaumin, René Seyssaud...

Exhibitions

- Paris, group exhibition at the Durand-Ruel gallery, 1899.
- Brussels, Salon de La Libre Esthétique, 1900.
- Vienna, Gebaüde der Secession, 1903.
- Dresden, Kunst Salon Ernst Arnold, 1906.
- Moscow, Tretiakov Gallery, 1908.
    - Geneva, Petit Palais, centenary retrospective, de Juin Sept, 1969.  
- Turin, Galleria d'Arte Pirra, 1974: Bérénice.
- Saint-Tropez, Musée de l'Annonciade, 1989.
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, from 19 May to 27 August 1995.
- Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1999.
- Les Baux-de-Provence, Yves Brayer museum, 2010.
- Lodève, Fleury museum, 2011.

Bibliography

- Bénézit dictionary
- Collective, Louis Valtat, [catalogue published by the Musée de Dieppe], 1959.
- Raymond Cogniat, Louis Valtat, Neuchâtel, Éditions Ides et Calendes.
- Collection George et Adèle Besson, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1964.
- Collective, Valtat, retrospective du Centenaire, 1869-1969, [catalogue of the exhibition at the Petit Palais in Geneva], Geneva, Éditions Besson, 1969.
- Jean Valtat, Louis Valtat, (1869-1952), l'œuvre peint, t.I., Neuchâtel,Éditions Ides et Calendes, 1977.
 - Collective, Post-Impressionism, [exhibition catalogue], London, The Royal Academy of Arts, 1979.
- Collective, Louis Valtat, paysages de l'Estérel, [catalogue of the exhibition at the Musée de l'Annonciade in Saint-Tropez], 1989.
- Collective, Louis Valtat dans la baie d'Arcachon 1895, Besançon,  
- F. Garcia, Louis Valtat (1869-1952), retrospective exhibition, Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux, William Blake & C°, 1995.
- Jean-Luc Chalumeau, Le Fauvisme, Éditions Cercle d'Art, Collection "Découvrons l'art du xxe siècle", 2004.
- Maïthé Vallés-Bled, Valtat indépendant et précurseur, preface by François Commeinhes, Musée Paul Valéry, Salles la Source, Au fil du Temps, 2011, .
- Bernard Seiden, Ivonne Papin-Drastik, Louis Valtat. À l'aube du fauvisme, Éditions Midi-Pyrénéennes, 2011.
- Collective, "Louis Valtat", Beaux Arts magazine, special issue, March 2011.
- Collective, " Louis Valtat ", Dossier de l'Art, no 186, June 2011, 96 p.
- Nathalia Brodskaya, Les Fauves, Parkstone Interna

- Nathalia Brodskaya, Les Fauves, Parkstone International, 2012, 200 p.

Museums

France

- Paris, Musée d'Orsay: L'Estaminet, oil on canvas.
- Bernay, Musée des Beaux-Arts: La Lecture, 1898, oil on canvas.
- Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie:
- Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts; 13 works.
- Portrait de Mme Valtat au canapé Louis XVI, oil on canvas;
- Caen, musée des Beaux-Arts : Le Cap Long à Agay, oil on canvas.
- Cahors, Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin: Rochers de l'Esterel, 
- Granville, Museum of Modern Art Richard Anacréon :
- Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts: Manège aux chevaux de bois, 1895-1896,
- Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts.
- Roubaix, La Piscine: Vallée de Chevreuse, before 1937, oil on canvas.
- Toulon, Musée d'Art: Fleurs et cerises, oil on canvas.
- Toulouse, Fondation Bemberg: Sur le boulevard, oil on canvas.
- Ver-sur-Mer, church pediment: Saint-Martin, 1918, stone bas-relief.

United States

- Palm Beach (Florida), Collection David E. Weisman and Jacqueline E. Michel: Au Café , Pastel on grey paper ~1904.

Russia

- Moscow, Pushkin museum:
- Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum:


Switzerland

- Geneva, Petit Palais, collection of 22 paintings.


Source

https://www.museeregardsdeprovence.com/exposition/louis-valtat

https://www.frequence-sud.fr/art-11732-louis_valtat_et_ses_contemporains_marseille.html

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Valtat#Œuvres

https://mediation.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-Fauvisme/index.html