Pinks and Daisies
Félix Vallotton's still life of pinks and daisies, dense with rose red against a near-black ground. A canvas edition that gives a dark room its hit of colour.
From$17900to $229.00Vallotton Paints Flowers That Press Forward
The pinks are open. Carnation heads crowd the shallow space, petals built in short loaded strokes of deep rose red, and the daisies open pale beside them, white gone grey at the centres. The bouquet sits against a ground so dark it reads as black, so every blossom seems carved rather than painted. The vase is barely there, a column of tone holding the mass upright. From across a room, the red arrives first. The white follows. Everything else stays quiet.
Vallotton worked with the Nabis in 1890s Paris, a group that treated painting as arrangement rather than imitation. He was best known for interiors, nudes and sharp-edged woodcuts, work with a certain coolness to it. This still life carries the same discipline. The flowers are not romantic. They are organised, packed, and set against darkness with an almost graphic severity that his prints made famous.
Still Life After Impressionism Grew Severe
By the late nineteenth century, flower painting had split. One path followed Impressionist softness, gardens caught in shifting light. The other, taken by the Nabis and their circle, treated the bouquet as a problem in flat pattern and colour contrast. Vallotton belonged firmly to the second camp. He reduced, outlined and darkened, borrowing from Japanese prints and from his own work as a woodcut artist. A still life in his hands becomes a design decision, not a record of a vase on a table.
What holds attention here is the relationship between two whites and one red. The pinks carry the saturated weight while the daisies act as pale counters, keeping the composition from tipping into pure crimson. The dark ground does the rest, sharpening every edge by contrast. This is a picture that reads from a doorway and still rewards standing close. It does not tire of being looked at, which is the real test of a flower painting in a lived-in room.
Loaded Brushwork Against a Dark Ground
The Rose Red
At arm's length the carnations are pure brushwork. Petals are laid in short, loaded strokes, each one carrying its own depth of rose, some nearly crimson, some warmed toward coral. The strokes do not blend. They sit against each other, which is what gives the flower heads their density and their slight tremor. Step back two metres and the strokes fuse into solid colour. That double reading, texture near and flat far, is what makes the red carry across a room.
Two Kinds of White
The daisies are the quieter achievement. Their white is not lead white slapped on. It is touched with grey and faint green at the centres, thin enough that the dark ground breathes through in places. Against the pinks they read as almost silver. Without them the picture would be a block of red on black, loud and slightly stupid. They thin the saturation out and give the eye somewhere cool to rest between bursts of colour.
The Barely-There Vase
Vallotton gives the vase almost nothing. A column of tone, a suggestion of a rim, no ornament and no modelling. This restraint is deliberate. A fully described vase would anchor the bouquet in domestic reality and shrink the drama. Instead the flowers float against darkness, their mass held upright by the barest structural cue. The effect is closer to his woodcuts than to academic still life, edges sharpened, detail refused, silhouette doing all the work.
Designing with Pinks and Daisies
This is a picture for a dark wall. Deep green, charcoal, ink blue, anywhere that pale flower paintings vanish and this one will not. In a dining room it sits well above a sideboard or console, centred and given room, because the red needs silence around it. The smaller size suits an entryway or the wall beside a kitchen doorway, where the bouquet is seen at close range on the way past. The larger one holds a dining wall on its own. Hang it at eye level with the bottom edge around 145 centimetres from the floor. It pairs badly with other saturated colour and well with brass, dark wood and linen.
Sizes and Prices for Pinks and Daisies
Pinks and Daisies is produced as a canvas in 2 sizes. Each is printed to order on archival stock and ships free worldwide.
Own Pinks and Daisies
Felix Vallotton, produced as a canvas and made to order. Complimentary delivery, worldwide.
View the EditionWhat type of frame is included with this print?
Each print comes with a premium hardwood frame that features conservation-grade materials. The frame is designed to complement the artwork while providing protection and durability.
Do you offer free worldwide shipping? How long does delivery take?
Yes, we offer free worldwide shipping on all orders with no minimum purchase required. Delivery typically takes 5-10 business days, depending on your location.
Is the print made with archival-quality materials?
Yes. We use archival paper and UV-protective acrylic glazing to help your print maintain its colors over time.
What is your return policy?
We offer a 30-day return policy on all orders. If you're not completely satisfied with your print, you may return it within 30 days for a full refund or exchange.
More Works by Felix Vallotton
Further works by Felix Vallotton in the Auvrique collection.
Sources & Further Reading
- See Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- According to Getty Conservation Institute
- For more detail, see International Fine Print Dealers Association
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Bring Vallotton Home
Printed to order on archival stock, delivered worldwide at no cost, ready to hang within 5 to 10 business days.
View the Edition