Book jacket for "Les Rassemblements"

1889–1903 · Affiliazione

Les Nabis

1890–1897

Art critic for the Gazette de Lausanne

To earn a living Vallotton restored paintings for the dealer Henri Haro, and from 1890 he wrote for the Swiss Gazette de Lausanne — some thirty articles on the Paris art world up to 1897.

1893–1897

Woodcuts for La Revue Blanche; the Natansons' patronage

His woodcuts brought Vallotton clients and financial security: he illustrated leading French periodicals, including La Revue Blanche, and foreign ones such as The Chap-Book of Chicago, and cut covers for theatre programmes and book illustrations. Thadée Natanson, publisher of La Revue Blanche, and his wife Misia became his patrons and introduced him to the Paris avant-garde elite — Mallarmé, Proust, Satie and Debussy.

1896

His album “Studies of Women” is published

A Paris publisher issued Vallotton's album “Studies of Women”.

1898

Buys a Kodak camera

Vallotton bought a Kodak No. 2 “Bullet” and based at least five interior paintings on his photographs; his first pictures were taken at the Château d'Étretat, the Château de la Naz, the Natansons' summer house above Cannes and the Villa Beaulieu in Honfleur.

23 January 1898

On Dreyfus's side

At the height of the Dreyfus affair Vallotton passionately defended the falsely accused officer; his series of satirical woodcuts, including “The Age of the Newspaper”, appeared on the front page of Le Cri de Paris. The affair divided the Nabis and was one reason the group had drifted apart by 1900.