How the washerwoman's daughter became the favorite model of Montmartre artists: Suzanne Valadon

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Suzanne Valadon was a French artist and the first woman to be admitted to the National Society of Fine Arts. Suzanne lived and worked in the very epicenter of the art quarter of Paris - Montmartre. She was a favorite model and friend of many famous artists of her generation. But Suzanne was only the daughter of a laundress. What did she go through and how did she become an independent revolutionary female artist?

What do we know about Suzanne?

Suzanne has worked as a model for professional artists for 10 years, skillfully selecting contacts, ideas and methods. She was the young muse of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, was idealized in the paintings of Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec masterfully reflected her sardonic side. Later, she herself became an artist-violator of stereotypes, as well as the mother of the famous landscape painter Maurice Utrillo. Suzanne was born on September 23, 1865 in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, France, the son of Madeleine, an unmarried laundress. She never knew her father.

The girl was born in an unofficial marriage, because of which her mother was forced to leave her hometown to avoid the scandal and stigma of being an unmarried mother. It was also a time of great political unrest, and Madeleine decided to move her family to Montmartre. It was known as the bohemian quarter of Paris, where creative people lived. Suzanne Valadon recalled: "The streets of Montmartre were home for me … Only the streets were full of running, love and ideas - what all the children were looking for."

Circus performer

To financially support her mother, Valadon began earning a living early. At only 11 years old. It was an odd job, and then a circus. At the age of 15, Suzanne became an acrobat in the popular Mollier circus. She was a dexterous gymnast and horsewoman. And that was the occupation of her soul. Suzanne loved the circus with all her heart! And, perhaps, if not for a serious injury, not compatible with further work as an acrobat, Suzanne Valadon would have become a famous circus artist. After 6 months of work under the dome, the girl fell off the trapeze and injured her back. For Suzanne, a young beginning her life, this was a terrible blow. Even after many years, she said that she would never leave the circus voluntarily. But destiny is destiny. As soon as she left the circus, the art world opened its doors to her. Its flexible form and sophisticated look attracted the artists of Montmartre.

World of Art

It was in Montmartre that Valadon began her artistic career as a teenager. Started working as a model for artists who patronized the Lapin Agile cabaret. Suzanne's entourage included such artists as Pierre Puvis de Chavanne, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Jean-Louis Forein. With their help and with the help of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas, Valadon herself learned painting. Valadon was stubborn, independent, and hot-tempered from a young age. And yet, she remained sensitive, fun, charming and full of energy. Outwardly, Suzanne was attractive: she was an elf, only five feet tall, with striking blue eyes and golden brown curls framing her face. Valadon's fantasy and imagination were vivid. It happened that she came up with fascinating stories on the go (true and not very true). For example, she said that the 15th century poet, François Villon, was her father. She later lied about her age from time to time, always seeking to create the life she wanted instead of accepting a somewhat lesser or expected reality.

Both model and artist

For a long time, Valadon was a muse and friend of famous artists. And at the age of 44, Suzanne focused exclusively on her artistic career. And at this stage, she became not just a woman artist, but a revolutionary artist. The world of art in that era was a man's world. And Suzanne practically defied the traditions and stereotypes about working behind the canvas. Valadon managed to create a completely new image of the female body and a new critical space for the image of the female figure. Valadon's portraits are based on real emotions and real physical experiences. Pictures encourage women to look for themselves and defend their point of view. While her technique and style of observation has much in common with French and English Post-Impressionists, Suzanne's stubborn and multi-layered thematic focus is more similar to German and Austrian Expressionism. Throughout her career, Valadon has repeatedly returned to self-portraits. Through her experience, Valadon also gained the confidence to be independent, paint more complex pictures and define her own personality outside existing norms. As a strong female artist, Suzanne has privileged access to the most influential and exciting events in art. Thus, Suzanne Valadon became a shining beacon for feminist art.

At the exhibition of the National Society of Fine Arts in 1894, Suzanne Valadon presented 5 works. Historically, she was the first female artist to have the opportunity to exhibit in this salon. In 1895, she exhibited 12 etchings of women, heavily influenced by Degas, and began exhibiting them regularly at the Galerie Bernheim-Jun in Paris. While female dressing scenes were relatively common, it was unusual and even shocking for female artists to portray naked women, especially since these portrayals of women were generally truthful rather than idealized representations.

Valadon held her first solo exhibition in 1911 at the Clovis Sagot gallery, after which she regularly participated in various salons, as well as in several shows by Berthe Weill, the only female art dealer in Paris at the time. Suzanne reached her peak in the 1920s and has hosted four major retrospective exhibitions in her life. Through her paintings and prints, Valadon changed the style of depicting the female figure. Suzanne Valadon died on April 7, 1938 in Paris. Her works are in the collections of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, etc.