In his lifetime Félix Vallotton was perhaps best known for his elegant woodcuts, which he designed, carved, and used to print inventive compositions of both exterior and interior Parisian life. The woodcut, the oldest printmaking technique in Europe, fell out of favor as an artistic practice by the mid-19th century. However, Vallotton revived the method, welcoming the woodcut’s potential to create pure, simplified forms using contrasts of only black and white to suggest pattern, depth, and shape.