Louis VALTAT (Dieppe, 1869 - Paris, 1952). Bouquet of dahlias. Oil on canvas signed L.V. lower right. Height : 55 cm - Width : 46 cm 55 cm - Width: 46 cm Montparnasse frame with keys. Provenance: private collection, acquired before 1963 then transmitted by descent Louis Valtat, originally from Dieppe, began his career as a painter in Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and at the Académie Julian where he rubbed shoulders with the Nabis. In the 1890s, following several stays in hospital due to tuberculosis, he discovered the south of France, particularly Collioure, where he frequented Aristide Maillol and Auguste Renoir. Ten years before the 1905 exhibition, his painting began to foreshadow Fauvism. He then signed a quasi-exclusive contract with Ambroise Vollard that lasted nearly 12 years during which his works were exhibited in all the European artistic capitals of the time (Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels). He obtained a place of choice at the 1905 Autumn Salon and was indisputably a major artist of the Fauvist period. After representing the landscapes of southern France and the beaches of Brittany, the painter devoted himself from 1939 onwards to his favourite subject, the still life with a bouquet. Inspired directly by the flowers of his Choisel garden, the chromatic power and the construction in large independent touches tending towards the flatness of his bouquets will deeply mark the painting of the 20th century. Expert : Mr Irénée BRUN - Cabinet BRUN-PERAZZONE - +33 1 42 60 45 45 brun.perazzone@gmail.com