This canvas was most likely painted near Cagnes-sur-Mer, a village in southern France favored by many artists, including Renoir and Soutine, and visited by Vallotton between 1921 and 1925 several times for prolonged stays. Here, the delicate blooms of the flowering peach trees and grasses below are juxtaposed with the dense masses of olive trees in the background. The strongly modeled figures of the peasant couple are depicted with a sculptural solidity that contrasts with the abbreviated details of the landscape.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Credit Line:Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), 1967
Accession Number:67.187.114
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): F. VALLOTTON. 22
the artist, Paris (1922–d. 1925; on consignment November 27, 1924–at least 1926/27 to the Galerie Druet, Paris); his widow, Gabrielle Vallotton, Paris (from 1925); [Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques, Paris, until 1927; sold, probably on July 29, 1927, to de Groot]; Adelaide Milton de Groot, Paris and New York (1927–d. 1967; on deposit December 22, 1927–January 15, 1929 with Durand-Ruel, Paris, deposit no. D 13274, as "Le Verger"; her bequest to MMA)
Paris. Galerie Druet. "Exposition Félix Vallotton," May 15–26, 1922, nos. 29–50 (as "Cagnes et ses environs") [possibly included this picture].
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "Adelaide Milton de Groot Loan Collection," January 10–February 12, 1950, unnum. checklist (as "Cherry Orchard").
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," April 19–June 1, 1986, no. 32 (as "The Cherry Orchard").
Kobe City Museum. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," June 7–July 13, 1986, no. 32.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Felix Vallotton: Woodcuts and Three Paintings," October 27, 1998–February 28, 1999, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 42).
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 43.
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 43.
Hedy Hahnloser-Bühler. Félix Vallotton et ses amis. Paris, 1936, p. 325, no. 1387, publishes the artist's chronological list of works ("livre de raison"), where this work is described as "Deux jeunes pêchers en fleurs, dans le fond masse d'oliviers, 1er plan herbe fleurie de blanc, deux figures debout".
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born in or before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1980, vol. 1, p. 189, vol. 2, ill. p. 323, calls it "Cherry Orchard".
Lisa Messinger inLandscape Painting in the East and West. Exh. cat., Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. [Shizuoka–ken], 1986, pp. 89–90, 292, 357, no. 32, ill. (color).
Marina Ducrey with Katia Poletti. Félix Vallotton, 1865–1925. L'oeuvre peint. Vol. 3, Catalogue raisonné. Seconde partie: 1910–1925 (CR 748 à 1704). Lausanne, 2005, pp. 775–76, no. 1461, ill. (color), call it "Pêchers et fleurs".
Marina Ducrey with Katia Poletti. Félix Vallotton, 1865–1925. L'oeuvre peint. Vol. 1, Le peintre. Lausanne, 2005, p. 303.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
