Jennifer Higgie on Suzanne Valadon
In episode\xa059 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews acclaimed writer JENNIFER HIGGIE on the great Parisian painter, Suzanne Valadon (1863\u20131938) !!!!\n\n[This episode is brought to you by Alighieri jewellery: www.alighieri.co.uk | use the code TGWA at checkout for 10% off!]\n\nAnd WOW, is this one of the greatest stories in art history of the acrobat-turned-artist-model-turned-artist Valadon (born Marie-Cl\xe9mentine), who grew up in\xa0Montmartre, the bohemian quarter of Paris;\xa0supported\xa0herself from the age of ten; but whose life took a turn after a fall from an acrobat in her early teens!\xa0\n\nModelling for the likes\xa0of\xa0Renoir to Toulouse-Lautrec, despite her lack of finances to afford formal art classes, she learnt via the backdoor: by studying her male acquaintances, and close friend Edgar Degas oversaw drawing.\xa0\n\n Known as a wild character (who spent earnings on lavish fur coats), Valadon had a complicated personal life and was often caught up in passionate love affairs (including breaking the heart of composer, Erik Satie). Taking influence from the glittering, shard-like surfaces as pioneered by the Impressionists, at the dawn of the new century, she had developed a distinct language. \n\nBy 1909, she was painting professionally. Defying all gender conventions and exuding the new freedoms of women, she painted herself nude alongside Utter, (her electrician lover twenty-one-years-junior), swept up in an overgrown Eden as characters Adam and Eve.\xa0\n\nIn 1911, at aged 46, Valadon had a solo exhibition at the gallery of renowned dealer (and former clown!) Clovis Sagot, and soon cemented herself as a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon. Within the next few years, she would stage more successful exhibitions, and in the 1920s produced her best work yet. One of which was her monumental self-portrait, The Blue Room, 1923. \n\nLying leisurely in striped trousers and a strapped top, with a cigarette hanging out her mouth and books pushed to the back of the bed, Valadon affirmed her independence and room of one\u2019s own with assured confidence and character. She was a modern Parisian woman in the 1920s, who could do whatever she wanted, whenever she pleased. \n\nShe rose to the peak of her fame in the 1920s, and had four major retrospective exhibitions during her lifetime. Through her paintings and prints, Valadon transformed the genre of the female nude by providing an insightful expression of women\u2019s experiences.\n\nDon't miss this AMAZING story as told by Higgie, whose INCREDIBLE book "The Mirror and the Palette: 500 Years of Women's Self Portraits" has just been released! See here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mirror-and-the-palette/jennifer-higgie/9781474613774\n\nWORKS DISCUSSED!\nThe Blue Room (1923)\xa0\nAdam and Eve (1909)\nThe Joy of Life (1911)\xa0\nFamily Portrait (1912)\nSelf Portrait (1927)\nPortrait of Erik Satie (1892)\n\nPAINTINGS FEATURING VALADON!\nThe Hangover (1889) by Toulouse-Lautrec\nDance at Bougival (1883) by Renoir\nFollow us:\n\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by Winnie Simon\nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/