La Blanche et la Noire (The White and the Black), 1913
Félix Vallotton
A reclining nude and a seated smoker face off across a stark tonal divide.
Vallotton sets a nude and a clothed Black woman in a charged, ambiguous exchange of glances. Flat, cool and modern, this striking 1913 canvas turns a quiet interior into a study of looking, power and unease — spare and unforgettable.
What you're looking at
The arrangement is a deliberate reversal. The white woman lies nude with her eyes shut; the Black woman sits upright, clothed, smoking, and looks down at her — so the person doing the looking and the person being looked at are the other way round from every reclining nude before it. Vallotton paints in flat areas with hard edges and no visible brushwork, which strips out any softening atmosphere.
On a Frame TV
About 5:4, so the matted file — the clean crop would separate the two figures the picture exists to hold together. Flat colour and clear edges make it legible in any light.
- 4K master file (3840px+)
- Samsung Frame TV–ready crop
- Phone wallpaper crop
- Printable art card
Public domain · one .zip, no sign-up
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Other works in the collection, starting with Félix Vallotton.
