Félix Vallotton
Place your thumb over the young girl’s yellow hat. How does the image change? Is it clear that the four patches of white paint are a billowing dress? Is the curvilinear, blue shape an arm reaching through the air? This painting by Félix Vallotton includes just the amount of detail necessary to describe a moment in time. If more detail were omitted, the image would not be clearly representational.
Vallotton was greatly influenced by Gauguin. Like Gauguin, Vallotton painted large patches of saturated color. In this painting, large areas of color represent the grass, trees, dirt, and shadow. Applying paint in this way tends to flatten the space within a painting. Is it clear how far the viewer is from the little girl? How far away are the adults in the background? The space in this painting is collapsed.