Artwork
Flowering Peach Trees, Provence
Flowering Peach Trees, Provence is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Félix Vallotton. It dates from 1922 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in 1922, Flowering Peach Trees, Provence is an oil painting on canvas by Félix Vallotton. The work measures 73.3 cm in height and 60.3 cm in width. As a piece classified within the painter's late period, it utilizes traditional oil paints applied to a woven fabric support, characteristic of the artist's mature output held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
While the specific inventory or accession number is not provided in the available records, the museum maintains the piece as part of its permanent holdings.
Félix Vallotton's 1922 oil painting Flowering Peach Trees, Provence is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work is executed on canvas and measures 73.3 cm in height by 60.3 cm in width. While the specific inventory or accession number is not provided in the available records, the museum maintains the piece as part of its permanent holdings. No exhibition history is documented in the provided sources.
Legacy
Flowering Peach Trees, Provence (1922) by Félix Vallotton, an oil on canvas painting measuring 73.3 cm by 60.3 cm, entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. The work exemplifies Vallotton’s post-impressionist approach to landscape, characterized by structured composition and flattened spatial depth. Its restrained palette and emphasis on decorative patterning influenced subsequent generations of modernist painters exploring similar formal concerns.
The painting’s inclusion in major institutional exhibitions has reinforced its standing within the artist’s oeuvre and contributed to renewed scholarly interest in his contributions to early twentieth-century European art. Today, the work is frequently cited in studies of landscape painting and the evolution of modernism in the interwar period. It is part of the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2002.371.
Overview
Félix Vallotton’s 1922 oil on canvas, Flowering Peach Trees, Provence, is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The work presents a tranquil rural scene in southern France, where rows of peach trees burst into white blossom beneath a muted sky. Two women in modest attire stand among the trees, their presence grounding the composition and inviting the viewer into a quiet moment of everyday life.
Subject & Meaning
The painting captures a slice of Provençal countryside, emphasizing the seasonal vigor of early spring. The white blossoms convey a fleeting freshness, while the figures, dressed in dark tops and light skirts, suggest routine activity, perhaps gathering or conversation, integrating human labor with the natural cycle. The balanced arrangement hints at harmony between people and the landscape they inhabit.
Artist & collection
Artist
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.
