1891
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Young Girl in Profile is a 1891 by Félix Vallotton, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A young woman tilts her head, her dark hair pulled back in a loose bun. She wears a simple white blouse, the fabric catching the light just enough to show its texture. This is Hélène Chatenay, a seamstress who lived with Vallotton in Paris. He drew her often—this profile first appeared in a sketch two years earlier. The quiet pose feels personal, like a moment caught between two people, not meant for an audience. If you like this, look up *sfumato*—the soft, smoky way Vallotton blurs edges here.
This print depicts Hélène Chatenay, a seamstress who became Félix Vallotton’s partner during the 1890s. The two lived together in Paris’s Latin Quarter until Vallotton abruptly married Gabrielle Rodrigues-Henriques in 1899 and assumed her haut bourgeois lifestyle. During their years together, Chatenay was a frequent model for Vallotton and the profile view seen here was also realized as a drawing two years earlier.
Although well known for his woodcuts, Félix Vallotton made only 23 etchings, all around 1890. He began by making copies after Rembrandt and other past masters in the late 1880s before moving on to his own subjects, mostly figures and cityscapes.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Félix Édouard Vallotton (French: ; December 28, 1865 – December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as Les Nabis.
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