27 September 2021

SUZANNE VALADON EXHIBIT

The first major exhibit in the United States of Suzanne Valadon is at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Valadon was a model for Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Puvis de Chavannes, and many others. Born into poverty her first job in Paris was as an acrobat in a circus. After a bad fall, she had to retire. Vincent van Gogh encouraged her to make art. Edgar Degas took her under his wing, instructed her in drawing, and bought her artwork. For the most part, however, Valadon was a self-taught artist.

Unlike her wealthier, society peers Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, Valadon did not shy away from depicting nudes including nude self-portraits. Her works of art often tackled sexual subjects. Valadon’s self-portrait at age sixty-six does not attempt to disguise her age. In 1894. Valadon was the first female artist to be admitted to the French Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She achieved commercial success as an artist during her lifetime. Valadon was the mother of the artist Maurice Utrillo.

The exhibit Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel closes January 9, 2022.