Félix Vallotton — Black on Wood — Book

The book

At the end of 1898 Félix Vallotton published ten woodcuts of couples indoors, under the title Intimités. Thirty copies were printed. Then he sawed a piece out of each block, and printed the ten pieces together on an eleventh sheet: the proof that no more would be made.

This book shows the ten at their actual size, from copy no. 5 at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, returns each piece of that last sheet to the print it came from, and follows the wood through Vallotton’s life.

Why this book is different

The eleventh sheet is the key to the series, and it is rarely shown next to the prints it destroyed. Here every fragment goes back to its print, so you can see exactly what Vallotton cut away, and where.

The ten woodcuts are reproduced at their actual size, each on its own spread, with a short text that tells you where to look. It is a selection with one route through it, not a catalogue: fewer pages, one question, every page there for a reason.

The object

A hardcover book, printed on Mohawk Superfine: a 120 gsm uncoated art paper with a soft matte surface, heavier than a magazine page and without the shine of a photo book. The cover is matte-laminated. Landscape A4, like the prints, 68 pages, in English.

It is printed to order in the USA when you buy it, one copy at a time.

Prints from copy no. 5 of Intimités, Bibliothèque nationale de France; other images from public collections, credited page by page. Published independently by Métrica; not affiliated with the institutions credited.

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