Twilight Conflagration ... Five maritime pines occupy the entire height of the canvas. I am the subject of the composition. The rest is poorly detailed, the ground in the foreground is plunged into darkness. As in the art of Japanese prints, the shapes are synthetic, there is the essential. In his Diary in 1916, Vallotton expressed himself in this way, wanting to evoke the emotion that the landscape gives him through "a few evocative features, one or two details, chosen, without superstition of exact timing or lighting".

The red of the trunks frees itself from realism as desired by the aesthetics of the Nabi group to which it belongs. Born in Switzerland, he is nicknamed "The Foreign Nabi". Painter, printmaker, magazine illustrator, he is a complete artist.

© Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper.