Lage du papier felix vallotton laziness

&#;Indolence is fatal only to the mediocre.&#;

(Albert Camus)

Félix Vallotton, Indolence or Laziness, , Woodcut, x 24 cm (sheet)

&#;Less and less is done
Untile non-action is achieved
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.&#;

(Lao Tzu)

History of art is littered with depictions of women being idle &#; beautiful and idle.

In most cases, the indolence is not explicitely proclaimed, but Felix Vallotton&#;s woodcut doesn&#;t shy away from putting the woman in an indolent position by naming his artwork &#;Indolence or Laziness&#;.

Lage du papier felix vallotton laziness

Fair enough! The woodcut doesn&#;t pretend to show Venus or some other mythological woman, but it shows a normal, everyday woman who just happens to be idle. She is seen naked, lying on the bed on her stomach and playing with a cat that wants to climb up on the bed or is simply teasing the woman, or trying to scratch the bedcovers.

The idleness depicted here is so suitable for women that we