She Knew What She Saw and Saw What She Knew and Painted it
“I had drawing in my fingertips. I only had to open my eyes.” -Suzanne Valadon
She Made That🖌️
An every other week short art story from my self-taught rabbit hole of inspiring women.
Some artists make me want to run to my studio post haste!
Okay, I actually live in my studio, so, I’m already there. Still, the first time I saw a Suzanne Valadon painting, I thought, I want to do this. I must try to do this. Or at least my version of what this is.
Valadon’s figures feel grounded and unbothered, like they aren’t performing for anyone. Just being. Women sitting in chairs (a series I’m starting too!) Women bathing. Women with weight, presence, and spirit. Their hands are large, their bodies are real, and there’s nothing timid about any of it. I could feel her deciding for herself what deserved attention and what didn’t.
Valadon started as a circus performer. 🎪 She was a trapeze artist in her teens, performing in the circus until a fall ended her acrobatic career at age 15. Then she became a model in Paris in the late 1800s. She was an artist’s model, posing for painters like Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, artists who admired not just her beauty but her talent. Degas, in particular, was a strong supporter of her work. He recognized her raw ability early on, collected her drawings, and he encouraged her, treating her like a peer in a time when few men did that sort of thing. Good on you, Degas!
So Valadon taught herself how to draw by copying the masters.
And then she took off and painted from her gut.
Valadon painted nude self-portraits throughout her life, and in her later years, she portrayed her aging body with honesty. A few years ago, I started doing the same thing. I began painting my own body, not to flatter it, but to see it, to know it, to accept it as it is, as I am.
What I love most is how she centered women without decoration. Her nudes aren’t draped in mystery or trying to please. They’re sitting in their skin, honest and powerful. There’s often a stillness to them, but it isn’t passive. It’s steady. Present. There’s strength in the way she held the moment.
Valadon was the first woman admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in France. She raised a son, the painter Maurice Utrillo, whose work became better known than hers during her lifetime. BUT!… thankfully, Valadon did see success during her life. Not all artists can say that. Especially the ones of the female persuasion.
Valadon’s paintings are so alive, direct, and wild in the quietest way.
She made that.
And I’m so glad she did.
If you're a collector or curator interested in bold, expressive work that honors the female form and spirit…come take a look at my online gallery. It’s always open and always evolving. anniewood.com/art 🖼️
Lovely piece. I am reading The Art Spy - it is getting off to a slow start, but you might like it. It's about the art scene before WW2 in Paris.
love this!