# The Red Room, Etretat

**Félix Vallotton** (Swiss, 1865–1925)  
1899  
Oil on artist's board  
49.2 × 51.3 cm (19 3/8 × 20 3/8 in.); Framed: 62.9 × 65.4 × 6.4 cm (24 3/4 × 25 3/4 × 2 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1977.606. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/94241).

## About this work

Inspired by a personal photograph, this work reflects Vallotton's focus on the daily life of his household. This example employs bold blocks of solid color: the red of the bed and the pink of the child's dress, for example. The result is a graphic simplicity similar to the artist's woodblock prints of interior scenes created during this same period.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Félix Vallotton painted this in 1899, aged 34. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Painting of a stately woman seated on a red velvet chair in a blood-red room, a blue-white fireplace to her left. She glances down at the floor with a serene expression toward a tiny blond child—a baby—who sits on the floor tearing up paper, her pink-clad back facing the viewer.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Félix Vallotton](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/felix-vallotton)

Swiss, 1865–1925

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Switzerland
- The artist was 34
- Real size: about 19 × 20 in (49 × 51 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: domestic scenes, interior, family, mother, mother and child, babies, red (color), vase
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/254.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/254/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-red-room-etretat-aic-94241).