A strikingly vibrant painting from what may be considered his best period of work, Louis Valtat has captured a pair of lovely ladies, believed to be his wife Suzanne and their nanny holding their infant son along the coast of Agay in 1902. At leisure, both women emote an idyllic sense of relaxation and focused attention with their different cares, in poses of pondering the coming days and the immediate duty to the child.
Performed with a solid impasto application of oils, the meticulous interplay of coloration may at first seem circumstantial, but soon shows in the many layers and the touches of precision, Valtat's genius of inspiration lays within his to capture a living moment in a immediate sense. The fabric fits softly to their forms, the baby wrapped in a multi-hues blanket, the coastline is ochre and immovable and his ocean endlessly ebbs and flows.
Valtat would paint through his lifetime, and suffer along with his countrymen through both World Wars, looking back at the harmony of the coastal days with his family along the French coast as the best of his lifetime. In this period, the patron Ambroise Vollard, through the recommendation of Pierre August Renoir, would agree to buy all of his works for a period of ten years, securing his financial success and immortality of the painting such as this elegant scene.
