La paresse (Laziness)
Félix Vallotton
£25.00
About
Created with black ink on cream-white paper, we look down on a nude woman who lies face down on her
bed and reaches to pet a cat who stretches up against the bed in this horizontal woodcut. The
woman’s knees are bent and her feet dangle in the air, and are cut off by the top edge of the
composition. She turns her head to our right as she reaches out with her left hand to pet or scratch
the cat’s ears. The woman's forehead, nose, and brows are outlined with a few black lines.
Her other elbow is bent with that hand curled in her hair. The bed is draped with fabric covered
with geometric patterns, such as checkerboards, zigzags, and diamond shapes. Throw pillows piled
under her head and along the far side of her body are decorated with swirls, curves, and dashes. The
cat stands on its hind legs with its back to us and its forelegs on the bed. The floor and the area
around the bed is black. The words “La Paresse” appear in black letters in a white rectangle at the
bottom left of the image and “FV” is inscribed in capitals in the lower right. The artist signed and
dated the lower right margin below the image,” fVallotton 32.”
