Louis Valtat Art

Art Brokerage: 1869-1952 - Artist Louis Valtat was born in Dieppe on 8 August, 1869. Louis Valtat was a French painter associated with the Fauves. Valtat is noted as a key link that accounts for the stylistic transition in painting from Monet to Matisse. Louis Valtat is considered as one of the leaders and founders of the Fauvist movement (meaning "the wild beasts" for their wild, expressionist-like use of color), which did not formally begin until 1905 at the Salon d'Automne. Valtat was involved with the most influential groups of artists, such as Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Georges d'Espagnat and Maximilien Luce. Valtat exhibited widely during his career. In 1894, Louis Valtat collaborated with both Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Albert André in creating the decor for the Paris theater "L'Oeuvre" at the request of Lugné Poë. Valtat suffered from tuberculosis, and he spent many autumn/winter seasons along the Mediterranean coast in Banyuls, Antheor and Saint-Tropez. Often, Valtat and his family would visit Paul Signac in Bollée and Auguste Renoir at the Maison de la Poste in Cagnes. During these times, along the Mediterranean, Valtat's use of color became a major concern to him, and he began to express his Fauvist tendencies, particularly in painting seascapes.