(The Crowd in Paris), 1892.
Woodcut on buff wove paper, 13,7 x 19,4 cm (block), 24,7 x 32 cm (sheet). Signed in pencil. One of only c. 20 copies. Reference: Meier-Graefe 15, Vallotton/Goerg 91a. Provenance: Collection Henri Marie Petiet (Lugt 5031). Rare print in very good condition and with legendary provenance.
Julius Meier-Graefe wrote in the first catalogue of Vallotton's graphic work, published in 1898: "The best means of the modern draughtsman is movement [...] Degas is the master of this art, in which the Japanese have helped us, Vallotton is its simplest expression. In this way, with a few strokes, he succeeded in creating very lively representations of crowds. Street scenes, for example, which have the immediacy of a snapshot and are made entirely from the mind, such as "La Foule à Paris" [...] A picture does not give an impression of Paris because it contains the Moulin Rouge and the surrounding houses. On the other hand, Vallotton's street scenes, for example, [...] in which one sees no houses at all, but only legs, arms, umbrellas and canes, are pictures that are only possible in Paris...".
