This rebellious female painter of bold nude portraits has been overlooked for a century

[Demovictory9]

Over a century ago, Suzanne Valadon began painting lively nude portraits of sensual and self-assured women, with full, curvy bodies and pubic hair. Occasionally, she painted nude men as well, bucking art historical tradition and presenting them as figures of desire. Her canvases were full of bold outlines, vibrant colors and loose brushwork, and she deftly illustrated her subjects' interior lives, rather than the idealized scenes of leisure so prevalent at the time.

Championed by some of her most famous contemporaries, including Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Valadon was no minor artist, and one of the few women painters of the era to receive critical acclaim. Yet, like many women artists of the 20th century, her fame faded after her death.

But today, curators and art historians are taking a second look at Valadon's works, and reconsidering her life with more nuance. This September, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia will stage her first major institutional show in the US, positioning her as an important yet underrecognized modern artist.

From the start, Valadon was a controversial figure in Paris' thriving art scene at the turn of the century, known as much for her bohemian attitudes and provocative personal life as her distinct, rebellious vision.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/suzanne-valadon-nudes-art-history/index.html

[niyad]

1. Thank you so much for this great find. Would you consider cross-posting it in Women's Rights

And Issues? Thanks in advance.

[Demovictory9]

2. sure... will do so

[MLAA]

3. I'm so glad you posted this.

I love art, yet had never heard of Valadon. Her work is marvelous. Thanks for saving me from not knowing about this wonderful artist.

[Demovictory9]

4. ..and she's self taught!!! lived a bold life

[MLAA]

5. And she painted as she lived, boldly 🙂

[frazzled]

6. Not entirely overlooked

She had solo exhibitions at the Musée National d’art Moderne in Paris in both 1948 and 1967, in addition to numerous solo gallery shows across the years

In addition, her work was included in numerous group exhibitions throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, both here and in Europe.

And her work is included in the permanent collections of the following major museums:

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Petit Palais, Geneva

All this said, it is absolutely true that compared to her male counterparts, she (like so many women artists of all eras until the recent past), was seriously under appreciated. That she is known at all is something of a miracle ... most have been lost to history altogether.

[Demovictory9]

8. good to know she got some recognition

[dalton99a]

7. .

[mopinko]

9. i'm so tired of stories like this.

so many women forgotten to history, no matter how much renown they had in their lifetime.

like this lady-https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181465785

[North Shore Chicago]

10. Thank you!

For posting this!

[imaginary girl]

11. Thanks+

I just finished a book called The Other Einstein, historical fiction about Einstein's wife and the impact of her gender on her scientific brilliance. You might enjoy checking it out!