Woman Seated in Front of Her bibliothéque, Louis Valtat (1869–1952)

Louis Valtat was born in Dieppe; his father instilled in him a love of painting, and after taking drawing lessons, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later at the Académie Julian.
He began exhibiting in 1889 at the Salon des Indépendants and was invited four years later to the Salon d’Automne.
He was one of the pioneers of Fauvism; during his stays near
Saint-Raphaël, he became friends with the painter Auguste Renoir as well as Paul Signac.
The art dealer Ambroise Vollard introduced him to audiences across Europe, particularly at the 1905 Salon d’Automne dedicated to Fauvism, where he exhibited alongside Henri Manguin, Henri Matisse, and André Derain—an event that was a tremendous success.
But starting in the 1920s, Louis Valtat—more in love with his art than with success and fame—retired to his estate in the Chevreuse Valley to paint nature, gardens in bloom, the flowers and fruits of his beloved garden, as well as his wife and son Jean, and a few close friends.
With his love of life, nature, men, women, and all the moments that make up our daily lives, Louis Valtat, like Chardin or Jean Baptiste Santerre, sought to depict the simple moments of everyday life.
A retrospective exhibition in 1954 at the Palais Galliera in Paris was dedicated to him.
The work on display, painted in 1926, depicts a friend of the Valtat couple: Madame Dubois.
The painter sought to pay tribute to her through her passion for literature.
This elegant woman with short hair, dressed in a suit, is depicted in a thoughtful and calm pose; she appears to be in harmony with the books in her library arranged in the background. Here, there is no explosion of colors or action; a monochrome palette of red, brown, and dark ochre lends depth to the composition.
Reference: Louis Valtat’s Catalogue Raisonné, no. 3841
And certificate by Louis André Valtat dated March 27, 1990

Works by Louis Valtat are held in the following museums:
Paris: Museum of Decorative Arts, Museum of Modern Art; Amiens, Nantes…
Leningrad: Hermitage Museum; Helsinki, Tokyo…

Dimensions with frame: 95 cm x 82 cm
Dimensions without frame: 73 cm x 60 cm