Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) It is the war! 1915-1916. Complete homogeneous suite of 6 woodcut plates. Each [325 x 250]. Vallotton and Goerg 212 to 217. Beautiful and rare proofs from the edition on japanese paper of 10 proofs, numbered and signed in pencil, under their original mats. Scattered light foxing. Hardback portfolio [540 x 450] with title printed on the first cover, increased with red ink stains projected giving the effect of blood drops, very faded (to be restored). Joint: exceptional preparatory drawing for pl. VI of the suite (The Civilians). India ink on blue pencil lines with white gouache covers on thin white vellum [325 x 250], signed in blue pencil. Slight oxidation at the opening of the mat. Detail of the plates : - The Trench - The Orgy - The Iron Threads - In the darkness - The Watcher - The Civilians In his diary, on December 26, 1916, Vallotton wrote: "The "holidays" are passing in a soft calm, and the joys as well think are limited. - Here I am in my fifties, it is serious but the thing will appear I believe more to others than to myself, in whom not much seems to me changed. - I'm doing a series of woodcuts on the war, I like it and it changes me from the eternal canvas of 25, or 40 to which I seemed to be dedicated. - I would like to go to Switzerland to spend a few days, but it is expensive, and my financial affairs are dismal. [The war continues, trenches are taken and lost, and men without anything definite being determined. He also writes to his brother Paul on January 19, 1916: "I am also in the process of publishing a series of six woodcuts on the war, for which I am doing the editing and all the expenses which are rising quite a bit, and this is giving me quite a bit of hassle and running. - It is very difficult to get what we want because the raw material and the manpower are lacking." (Félix Vallotton, Documents pour une biographie et pour l'histoire d'une œuvre, III, Journal 1914-1921, presentation and notes by Gilbert Guisan and Doris Jakubec, Lausanne, Paris, La Bibliothèque des Arts, 1975, pp. 103-105).