Louise Valtat (1869-1952)

"Port du la Rochelle II"

Watercolor on paper, 17.25 x 12.25" site size

Louise Valtat, a painter, printmaker and stage designer was born in Dieppe France. He spent much of his youth in Versailles, moving in 1887 to Paris, studying under Gustave Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and under Jules Dupre at the Academie Julian. There he met Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Albert Andre. In 1895 he worked with and was influenced by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Andre . By 1896 he looked to Fauvism for his use of bold colors. Early on he traveled spending time with Aristide Maillol and Collioure. He visited Auguste Renoir several times between 1900 and 1905 at Magagnosc, panting portraits of each other. In 1902 Valtat visited Venice. He visited Signac at St Tropez in 1903 and 1904 and traveled to Normandy in 1907. In 1893 Valtat exhibited at the Salon des Independants, La Libre Esthetique in Brussels in 1900, and the ground breaking Salon d' Automne in 1903. Among the reproductions in Louis Vauxcelle's review of the Salon d' Automne! of 1905, in which the term 'Fauve' was first used, was a loosely brushed marine scene by Valtat. Valtat, however, always remained detached and on the fringe of the Fauvist circle. For a time coastal scenes such as this became a recurrent theme for Valtat. His paintings can be found in the Musee d'Art Moderne, Musee du Petit Palais, Musee des Arts Decoratif, the Hermitage, Museum of Modern Art, Musee Bernay, Le Havre, Helsinki, Nantes and Nimes. He is regarded as one of the most significant of the fauvist painters.