Talk:Suzanne Valadon

Untitled

"In Limoges, France, there is a lycée named Lycée Suzanne Valadon. This school does a biannual exchange with David W. Butler High School, in Matthews, North Carolina." - Don't you feel that this last sentence is completely irrelevant?

I agree, completely irrelevent. Also, she is described as striking and beautiful which is purely oppionion. I find her very pretty but there are few pictures of her so it's hard to tell. Alanna Edwards 17:40, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

toulouse lautrec

Can anyone expand on her relationship with Lautrec? She was his muse, lover and he was reportedly a big help with her career (even encouraging her to change her name from marie clementine to suzanne as it was more respectable)

<< She modeled for artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (who gave her painting lessons), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, and is known to have had an affair with the latter two.>> I think this need to be change because she one of Lautrec's models and possibly his mistress as well!

I would also add that the current wording implies that this was one affair, not two separate ones. Now, that's perfectly possible, but ... Philip Trueman (talk) 13:11, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Degas and Valadon

"In the early 1890s she befriended Edgar Degas who, impressed with her bold line drawings and fine paintings, purchased her work and encouraged her efforts. She remained one of Degas' closest friends until his death." Does anyone have a citation for this? According to Valadon's bio on the National Museum of Women in the Arts, he was indeed a friend and mentor and taught Valadon drawing and printmaking techniques. I haven't found anything suggesting he had purchased Valadon's work, though.Arthistorygrrl (talk) 19:10, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Planned edits

As a part of an art history class project, I am planning on making extensive edits to this article. I am planning on restructuring some of the current sections, as well as adding more information with proper citations. Please also note that I will be adding a few additional sources to the reference section and have included minor inline citations to this rough draft for personal reference. I plan to add the following information throughout the article:

Intro

The subjects of her drawings and paintings included mostly female nudes, female portraits, still lives, landscapes. She never attended the academy and was never confined within a tradition (Warnod 40). Suzanne spent nearly 40 years of her life as an artist (Marchesseau 9).

Personal life

Suzanne didn’t know her father, and she grew up in poverty with her mother. She was known to be quite independent and rebellious. She attended primary school until age 11. She then worked in a milliner’s workshop, a factory making funeral wreaths, the market selling vegetables, a waitress in a restaurant, and then finally in the circus at age 15 (Warnod 13). Suzanne gave birth to her illegitimate son, Maurice Utrillo, in 1883 at the age of 18 (Marchesseau 9). Suzanne’s mother cared for her son (Marchesseau 15). Miguel Utrillo would later sign papers recognizing Maurice as his son, although his true paternity is uncertain (Warnod 48). Suzanne helped educate herself by reading Lautrec’s books and observing the artists she posed for (Warnod 40).

In 1895 Suzanne married stock broker Paul Moussis. For 13 years she led a bourgeois life between an apartment in Paris and a house in the outlying region (Marchesseau 16). In 1909, Suzanne began her affair with André Utter, age 23 and a friend of her son. She would later divorce Paul in 1913 (Marchesseau 17-18). Suzanne married Utter in 1914 (OAO). Suzanne Valadon died of a stroke at the age of 73 (Warnod 88).

First of all, good work on expanding this article. In this section, you could mention her connection with Erik Satie (and her portrait of him). While it would appear that she meant a great deal more to him than vice versa, those reading about Satie may well click through to Suzanne. I restored a dead link in the Erik Satie article discussing their affair and the portrait. Thanks Declangi (talk) 20:37, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Model

She debuted as a model in 1880 in Montmartre at age 15 (Rose 9). She modeled for over 10 years for many different artists: Puvis de Chavannes, Steinlen, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. She was also known to be good friends with Degas (Marchesseau 9). She modeled under the name “Maria” and was thought to of had many affairs with the artists she modeled for. She was considered seductive, provocative, comely, voluptuous, and flighty as a model. Toulouse-Lautrec nicknamed her “Suzanne” after the biblical story of Suzanne and the Elders (Marchesseau 14). She was considered a very focused, ambitious, rebellious, determined, self-confident, and passionate woman (Marchesseau 15).

Artist

Her class allowed her to enter the male public domain of art through modeling and then emerged as an artist within her circle of prominent male artists. She resists typical depictions of women via their class and supposed sexuality. (Mathews 416).

Her first portrait was created in 1883 at age 18 before she gave birth to her son (Warnod 8). She produced mostly drawings from 1883-1893. Her first models were her family members, often her son, mother, or niece (Warnod 48). Her first paintings were created in 1892-1893 (Warnod 57). Her first female nude was made in 1892 (Rose 97). Suzanne’s first time in the Salon de la Nationale was in 1894. Degas was the first person to buy drawings from her (Warnod 51). Degas also taught her soft-ground etching (Warnod 55). She made a shift from drawing to painting during her initial relationship with Utter starting in 1909 (Marchesseau 17). Her first large oils for the Salon related to sexual pleasure, and they were some of the first examples in painting for the man to be an object of desire by a woman. These notable Salon paintings include Adam et Eve (Adam and Eve) (1909), La joie de vivre (Joy of Living) (1911), Lancement du filet (Casting of the Net) (1914) (Marchesseau 18-19). Suzanne produced around 300 drawings and over 450 oil paintings by the end of her life (Marchesseau 17).

It’s thought that her experience as a model and as an artist allowed her to analyze the process that transformed and positioned the body as an object of the gaze within a work of art and influenced her understanding and perspective of women and the female body (Mathews 415). Suzanne Valadon has been considered transgressive in her position as a woman painting the nude female body, which was considered not a “proper woman artist” (Mathews 418). Use of unidealized bodies that are not overtly sexualized (Mathews 419). Self-possessed figures (Mathews 423).

The “delicate hand” of a female painter goes undiscerned in her painting (Marchesseau 13). She primarily worked with oil paint, oil pencils, pastels, and red chalk; she did not care to use ink or watercolor because these mediums were too fluid for her preference (Marchesseau 16). Suzanne’s paintings feature rich colors and bold, open brushwork often featuring firm black lines to define and outline her figures (Marchesseau 9). She used hard black lines to emphasize the structure of the body (Warnod 48). She also used firm lines in her nudes to emphasize the play of light on curves.

Suzanne’s self-portraits, portraits, nudes, landscapes, and still lifes remain knowingly detatched from trends and aspects of academic art (Marchesseau 9, 11). The subjects of Suzanne’s paintings often reinvented her masters’ themes: women at their toilette, reclining nudes, and interior scenes. Common features of her paintings included bourgeois décor, furniture, living rooms, and washrooms with a tub. Many have suggested a vibrant, emotional sense that emanates from her drawings and paintings as a result from a fraternal or familial observation of these women’s bodies. Suzanne emphasized her focus on the importance of composition over painting expressive eyes (Marchesseau 16). Suzanne’s later paintings are marked with richer color and crowded decorative backgrounds. (OAO)

Cq245809 (talk) 16:36, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

You've done a very good job adding information into this article. I'm not aware of anything else that really needs to be added, but there are a few layout changes that could make the article more accessible to the reader. The "Artist" subsection is a rather large block of text right now. It might make more sense to split this up into multiple pieces such as one for the actual milestone's in her career and then another for her actual works which would include things like style and subjects. I would also suggest adding one or more pictures to this section to visually break up the text. I feel like a large section of text like this may be intimidating to a reader trying to get information quickly. It will be better to have some relevant pictures throughout than to have all of the pictures at the bottom of the page. The text flows pretty well as it is. However, throughout the article both Suzanne and Valadon are used to refer to her. I would choose to just use Valadon when referring to her by name to make it more consistent and slightly more formal.One sentence, "The “delicate hand” of a female painter goes undiscerned in her painting " did stand out to me. I think you might want to say it has been noted/stated at the beginning of the sentence. M.stoss17 (talk) 20:06, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

Firstly, you've added a LOT of in-depth info to this article - very well done! I noted a couple of the same things as the reviewer above me did, but I think you've actually already corrected them. I was going to note that the "Artist" section was a bit daunting in terms of its length, but adding the subtitles (especially the Style subtitle) really breaks it up and makes it much clearer to read. Personally, I'm very inclined to scroll right down to the Style heading when reading about artists on Wiki, and you included a lot about her style which is really helpful. Your writing overall is concise and stays away from art-y jargon - anyone could read this and understand her style and unique position in the art world. Secondly, in terms of neutrality, you did a really excellent job wording certain things. I feel like Valadon is one of those artists that people have strong opinions about, but all of your edits are void of any kind of opinion. Even when listing adjectives about her (i.e., very focused, ambitious, rebellious, determined, self-confident, and passionate woman), you added "was considered" at the beginning and a citation immediately following the statement to make it neutral and legitimate. Also, I'd say that the introduction is a little long (although not all of it is your writing), but it might benefit from having a couple sentences moved elsewhere in the article - but that is kind of a nitpicky thing. Lastly, I love that there is a gallery of several images at the end of the article. Having the gallery is the best of both worlds - it pleases the people that don't want images clouding all of the text, but also pleases those that would really like to have visual aids. Overall, very well done! Frankiefillis (talk) 17:18, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Image request

Hello, and if someone more tech and image-upload savvy than myself could find and upload an image of Valadon's The Blue Room it would be the image for only one of two English Wikipedia articles on Valadon's work. And more pages please (here are some of Valadon's paintings, with almost all linking to just the image and without an article). Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 17:03, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

Painting by Rusiñol

That painting by Rusiñol is either mis-dated, or that is not Utrillo. The date displayed is 1891 - so Utrillo, who was born in December 1883, would have been seven or eight years old in 1891. That guy with a mustache is obviously older than eight. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:7000:2703:74:482D:6403:DAD4:F319 (talk) 14:19, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion:

• Bouquet de fleur, par Suzanne Valadon.jpg
• Still Life with Basket of Apples Vase of Flowers 1928.jpg
• Young Girl in Front of a Window by Suzanne Valadon, San Diego Museum of Art.JPG

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 12:22, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 December 2023

Expand section on death reorganize the article, it looks bad; include gallery near the bottom and at least have personal life go above it (include information firstly over references, see also, etc - this is a good principle to follow). 69.174.166.22 (talk) 19:45, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

 Partly done I moved the contents of the Death section to the Personal life section. I am unsure what you mean by Expand section on death. Do you have citations that have more information about her death? Peaceray (talk) 22:55, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

Great article

Thank you to whomever put the work into this. I can't get enough of her or Satie. Viriditas (talk) 20:07, 3 April 2024 (UTC)