Still Life with Gladioli, Felix Vallotton

Felix Vallotton

Still Life with Gladioli

Les Nabis · Canvas

Felix Vallotton stacks gladioli in flat, hard-outlined color against a quiet ground. On a wall it reads as pattern first, flowers second, and it steadies a room.

From^$179⁰⁰to $229.00

Canvas · 2 sizes

30x45 cm / 12x18″$179⁰⁰ 40x60 cm / 16x24″$229⁰⁰

Complimentary worldwide delivery · Made to order

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Complimentary Worldwide Delivery

Archival Materials

Made to Order

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Still Life with Gladioli by Felix Vallotton, fine art edition at Auvrique

Les Nabis

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Flat Color, Firm Contour, Quiet Ground

The Outline Itself

Get close and the contour is the whole story. Each petal is closed by a dark line of even weight, more confident than any brush drawing from a live model would allow. The edges meet the ground cleanly, with no blending, no feathering. It is closer to the reed pen of a woodcut than to oil paint, and Vallotton was a prolific printmaker, which shows here at arm's length.

Color Laid Flat

The petals run coral, pink and deep carmine, applied in single flat passes rather than modeled in light and shadow. The ground behind them is a plain, even tone that lets the saturated color sit forward. Nothing recedes. The effect is closer to fabric design or a Japanese print than to botanical painting, and it is why the image reads from across a room as one strong block of color.

Weight and Tilt

The composition is not symmetrical and does not pretend to be. The stacked blooms tip the bouquet sideways while the leaves cut upward in long blades, cool against the warm flowers. The low dark vase anchors the whole arrangement at the table edge. That small tension between tipping and pinning gives a static subject its energy, and it is what keeps the eye returning.

Reading the Work

Painting After the Nabis Broke Depth

The Nabis took their name from a Hebrew word for prophet, half in jest, and their project was serious enough. Working in Paris in the 1890s, they argued that a picture was first a pattern of color on a plane and only second a window onto the world. Gauguin's example pushed them there. So did Japanese prints, which had flooded into Europe and taught a generation that empty ground and firm contour could carry an image alone.

Vallotton pushed the idea further than most of his circle. His interiors and still lifes feel almost severe, the forms simplified until they approach sign painting. That severity is why the gladioli hold attention. Nothing distracts from the stacked blooms and the blade-like leaves. Lived with daily, the picture keeps its freshness, because there is no illusion to tire of, only color and line.

Editorial Insight

“The outline does the drawing, the color does the rest.”

Still Life with Gladioli Holds Its Surface

The painting gives very little away at first glance. No depth, no atmosphere, no soft light falling across the table. What it offers instead is surface, pressed flat and kept flat, and the gladioli rise through it like a column of cut color. The petals sit in coral, pink and carmine, each one closed by a dark outline so firm the edges feel drawn rather than painted. The vase is low and dark. It pins the tall stems to the table edge and lets the blooms do the work.

Vallotton was a Swiss painter who joined the Nabis in Paris in the early 1890s, a group that included Bonnard and Vuillard. He built his reputation on flatness, on black outline, and on images that behave like woodcuts even in oil. Still life gave him the cleanest field for that. Flowers, fruit and tables became arrangements of shape, and this bouquet is one of the most direct examples.

Designing with Still Life with Gladioli

This is a vertical piece, and it wants a wall where something upright can stand alone. A dining room suits it, hung above a sideboard or low console so the tall stems clear the furniture line. It also works in a hallway, where its flat color carries from a distance. The palette is warm at the centre and cool at the edges, so it sits well against off-white, sage or pale grey. The smaller size holds its own in a narrow passage or above a desk. The larger one earns a stretch of empty wall beside a doorway, hung at eye level with a single warm lamp nearby to bring out the carmine.

Read next to Breithorn and Mont Blanc, the argument becomes easier to follow.

Sizes and Prices for Still Life with Gladioli

Still Life with Gladioli is produced as a canvas in 2 sizes. Each is printed to order on archival stock and ships free worldwide.

Canvas · 2 sizes

30x45 cm / 12x18″$179⁰⁰ 40x60 cm / 16x24″$229⁰⁰

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of frame comes with this piece?

Every print ships in a hardwood frame built from conservation-grade materials, chosen to sit quietly behind the artwork rather than compete with it, while still protecting the print itself.

Is shipping really free, and how long will it take to arrive?

Shipping is free on every order, everywhere, with no minimum spend. Most orders arrive within 5 to 10 business days depending on destination.

Are archival materials used in production?

They are. Each print is produced on archival paper and finished with UV-protective acrylic glazing to slow color fade over the years.

Can I return this if it isn't right for the space?

Yes. Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery for a full refund or an exchange, no questions asked.