Louis Valtat

Louis Valtat (1869-1952) was one of the preeminent painters of the Post-Impressionist period, working in an expressive style that carried the influence of Van Gogh into a distinctive personal variety of Post-Impressionism, in contrast to the more decorative approaches of Bonnard and Matisse. His early work is celebrated for its vivid colors and expressive use of thick paint, and Valtat is widely regarded as one of the leading proponents of Fauvism, the movement that celebrated strong colors and distinctive painterly qualities over overt realism and naturalism. In his best pictures the colors remain expressive without becoming strident, while meticulously balanced compositions retain a simplicity and a subtle flattening of the canvas that echoes Post-Impressionist restraint. The result is extremely pleasing, vibrant, and well-balanced work that showcases Valtat's uncanny ability to create a unique space filled with light through his personal and particular choice and application of color.

Valtat is recognized as one of the founding leaders of the Fauvist movement, which did not formally launch until the celebrated 1905 Salon d'Automne exhibition, where the term Fauves was coined to describe the wildly colored paintings of Matisse, Derain, Marquet, and their circle. Born in 1869, Valtat moved to Paris at the age of seventeen to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under Gustave Boulanger, Jules Lefebvre, and Benjamin Constant, receiving the disciplined academic education that would give him the technical foundation for his mature career. Despite this conventional training, Valtat quickly moved toward the more progressive currents that were reshaping French painting during the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

Valtat became closely involved with the most influential groups of artists of his era, numbering Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Georges d'Espagnat, and Maximilien Luce among his friends and colleagues. His long friendship with Renoir was particularly consequential, and the two artists worked in productive proximity during their overlapping years in the south of France. Valtat also formed important connections with the dealer Ambroise Vollard, who supported his work through many years.

Valtat exhibited widely throughout his career and continued to paint prolifically well into the twentieth century. His works are held today in the Musée d'Orsay, the Hermitage, the Museum of Modern Art, and other major international collections, where they remain valued examples of Post-Impressionist and early Fauvist painting.