The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

The Bistro

The Bistro

c. 1895
(Swiss French, 1865–1925)
France
oil on canvas
Unframed: 22.2 x 27 cm (8 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.114
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Vallotton is sometimes referred to as a "forgotten" master painter, as his work as a printmaker, designer, art critic, novelist, and playwright detracted from his primary passion of painting.

Description

The hustle and bustle of eager customers in a crowded bistro is captured in this painting. One can almost hear the loud chatter and shouts of orders being called to the busy servers behind the countertop. All in jackets, the men by the bar have rosy cheeks and noses, perhaps from the cold outdoors contrasting the warmth of their drinks.
  • by 1938
    (Mme. L. Godet-Druet, Paris, France)
    1964
    (Galerie Vallotton, no. 5626, Lausanne, Switzerland)
    August 22, 1969
    (Galerie Vallotton, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur G. Altschul [1920–2002], New York, NY, August 22, 1969)
    June 2003
    (Galerie Hopkins & Custot, Paris, France, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    2003–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Included in “Felix Vallotton 1865-1925,” Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1938, cat. no. 18, as “Bar,” Collection Mme. L. Druet, Paris. This may refer to Lucie Druet, wife of gallerist Eugène Druet. 
    2 Provenance from 1964-2003 is according to documentation provided by Galerie Hopkins-Custot.
  • Félix Vallotton: Ausstellung, Kunsthaus Zürich, vom 11. November - 14. Dezember [1938] : Katalog mit Einführung, 24 Abbildungen und Werkverzeeichnis 1885-1925. [Zürich]: [Kunsthaus], 1938.

    Published as: Bar Mentioned: P. 18, cat. no. 18
    Kunsthalle Basel. Ausstellung Félix Vallotton, 23. Januar bis 24. Februar 1957. Basel: 1957. Mentioned: Cat. no. 17
    Félix Vallotton: [Ausstellung] vom 10. April bis 30. Mai, 1965. Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1965. Mentioned: P. 67, no. 17
    Ménier, Marguerite. Vallotton. Musée national d'art moderne, Paris. 15 octobre-20th novembre 1966. Paris, France: Ministère des affaires culturelles [et] Réunion des musées nationaux, 1966. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 15
    Felix Vallotton (1865-1925) : a retrospective exhibition of paintings, drawings, woodcuts, and engravings ... April 7 through 25, 1970. New York, NY. : Hirschl and Adler Galleries, 1970. Reproduced: cat. no. 27
    Reff, Theodore. Manet and Modern Paris: One Hundred Paintings, Drawings, Prints, and Photographs by Manet and His Contemporaries. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 210, fig. 105
    Cate, Phillip Dennis, and Patricia Eckert Boyer. The Circle of Toulouse-Lautrec: An Exhibition of the Work of the Artist and of His Close Associates : the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, November 17-February 2, 1986. New Brunswick, NJ.: The Museum, 1985. Mentioned : P. 172, no. 161; Reproduced: pl. 22
    Newman, Sasha M., Marina Ducrey, and Lesley K. Baier. Félix Vallotton. New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 1991. Reproduced: P. 20, pl. 14
    Ducrey, Marina, Katia Poletti, and Félix Vallotton. Félix Vallotton (1865-1925). Lausanne, Switzerland: Fondation Félix Vallotton, 2005. Reproduced: Vol. II, p. 100, no. 185
    Musée Jenisch, Georges Peillex, and Franco Russoli. De Vallotton à Desnos: exposition organisée. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1965. Mentioned: P. 22, no. XXII
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Felix Vallotton. Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, Germany (August 25–November 5, 1995); Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany (1996).
    Felix Vallotton. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (October 24, 1991–January 5, 1991); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (January 31–March 29, 1992); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN (April 25–June 21, 1992); Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (August 27–November 1, 1992); Musee Cantonal des beaux arts, Lausanne, Switzerland (November 21, 1992–January 31, 1993).
    The Circle of Toulouse-Lautrec, an Exhibition of the Work of the Artist and of his Close Associates. Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, NJ (November 17, 1985–February 2, 1986).
    Felix Vallotton. Musee national d' Art modern, Paris, France (October 15-November 20, 1966); Palais des beaux-arts, Charleroi, Belgium (December 17, 1966–January 15, 1967).
    De Vallotton a Desnos. Musee Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland (July 24–October 3, 1965).
    Felix Vallotton. Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland (1965).
    Ausstellung Félix Vallotton. Kunsthalle Basel (January 23–February 24, 1957); Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf (March 8 – April 3, 1957) cat. no. 17 (only exhibited in Basel)
    Felix Vallotton 1865-1925. Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland (1928).
    Felix Vallotton (1865-1926), a Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Woodcuts, and Engravings. Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, NY (April 7–25, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=The Bistro|url=false|author=Félix Vallotton|year=c. 1895|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.114