Stéphane Natanson

Vallotton was a member of the Nabis, a group of artists influenced by Gauguin and who shared an interest in philosophy and literature. Vallotton became friendly with the Natanson brothers, publishers of the magazine La Revue Blanche and supporters of avant-garde art and literature. Natanson, an architect, was the brothers’ young cousin and himself a patron of Vallotton and Edouard Vuillard. His forceful gaze has an almost hypnotic effect and gives this work a striking intensity, reminiscent of the portraits of Hans Holbein, one of Vallotton’s models.