Vallotton Forever (Catherine Lepdor)

Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) remains a fascinating artist to this day. His paintings and prints, as well as his work as an illustrator and press cartoonist, are characterized by detached and critical observation, satirical sharpness, and a strong desire for independence. A century after his death, film director and screenwriter Lionel Baier, art historians Dario Gamboni and Choghakate Kazarian, literary scholar and writer Daniel Maggetti, and curators Catherine Lepdor and Katia Poletti share their views on Vallotton's work and their passion for him and his art.

The French-language Vallotton Forever is published to coincide with a major retrospective at the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts (MCBA) in Vallotton's native city of Lausanne, which is home to the world's most comprehensive collection of his works. The volume celebrates an extraordinary artist who is considered one of the greats of art history in both his native Switzerland and his adopted home of France. It brings together key works from all periods of Vallotton's career, from the early years and the icons of the Nabis period in the 1890s to his sophisticated dialogue with tradition in the modern era that marks his later years.

Catherine Lepdor is chief curator and head of art research at the MCBA in Lausanne. She is an expert on early modern Swiss and French art.

Katia Poletti is an art historian and curator with the Fondation Félix Vallotton in Lausanne.