Suzanne Valadon
Model, Painter, Rebel
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
24 February – 31 July 2022
Nude in the Mirror, 1916-17
Oil on canvas
The Weisman & Michel Collection
Nude Sitting on a Sofa, 1916
Oil on canvas
The Weisman & Michel Collection
Woman in an Armchair, (Portrait of Madame G.), 1919
Oil on canvas
The Weisman & Michel Collection
The Glyptotek is presenting the first-ever exhibition in the Nordic region about the French painter and model, Suzanne Valadon. Despite her poor upbringing, Valadon forged a successful career as an artist, based on her work as a model, her independent studies and her talent.
Suzanne Valadon modelled for Renoir, Puvis de Chavannes and Toulouse-Lautrec, she was a friend of Degas and van Gogh, and she was a great admirer of Gauguin. Prior to becoming part of their artistic circle, Suzanne Valadon (1865 – 1938) was a favourite model for the painters of Montmartre. Inspired by her role models, she taught herself to paint and, in the early 20th century, she was the very first self-taught woman to exhibit at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts.
If her name rings a bell, it is perhaps because she already hangs on the walls of the Glyptotek portrayed in paintings by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. His 1885 portrait of Valadon is an important testimony to the network, which she influenced and to which she belonged. But the portrait also testifies to the fate she and so many other great female artists of the time met: hugely successful in their day, yet forgotten by posterity. The permanent collections of the Glyptotek are no exception. Valadon is represented not by her own work, but only as a model for Toulouse-Lautrec.
Since 1949, the Glyptotek has never mounted a major, historical solo exhibition of works by a French female painter. Now, once again, the museum is making its galleries available to a rebel painter who, by asserting her independence, challenged the conventions of the age, as both an artist and a woman.
Though Marie-Clémentine Valadon (pseudonym: Suzanne Valadon) grew up in poverty, by the time she was a teenager she had forged a brilliant career as an artist’s model. From her work as a model she learned artistic techniques and social codes, and was to become part of an impressive network of artists.
With her uncompromising portraits and nude studies, rooted in her gender and her class, Valadon paved new ways for art. She defied the social norms of the time and carved her own unique path into the Parisian art world. Her unusual history, her business connections, strategies and contribution to 20th century art will be the subjects of the Glyptotek’s special exhibition 'Susanne Valadon – Model, Painter, Rebel'.
“It is more than a hundred years since Valadon painted her audacious portraits of confident women with strong bodies, sinuous shapes and pubic hair. Easily recognisable by their fiery dark contours and bright colours, Valadon’s works tackle a number of issues that, even to this day, challenge social codes related to femininity, marriage, motherhood, desire and the female body. Valadon was not a feminist in the traditional sense of the word, but her works make a huge impact, despite all the gossip that has so often overshadowed her work. The upcoming exhibition will not only feature her extraordinary works, but will also tell the story of an exceptional woman who succeeded in transforming her working-class background from a disadvantage into a unique entrée into the world of art. Valadon definitely deserves to be acknowledged as one of our many inspiring, female forebears in the history of art,” says Anna Kærsgaard Gregersen, Curator, Danish and French Art of the 19th Century at the Glyptotek.
The exhibition, 'Suzanne Valadon - Model, Painter, Rebel' is a collaboration between the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.
The exhibition was originally devised by the Barnes Foundation. At the Barnes Foundation - 'Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel' was supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia.
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication of a richly illustrated catalogue.
The exhibition opened at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia on 26 September 2021 and runs until 9 January 2022. At the Glyptotek it will run from 24 February to 31 July 2022.
SUZANNE VALADON
Born to a single mother in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Suzanne Valadon (née Marie-Clémentine Valadon, 1865-1938) grew up in poverty in Paris. Valadon spent little time in school and, though she began drawing at the age of 9, she never received any formal art education.
As a teenager, Valadon modelled for some of the most famous artists of the time, including Renoir, Puvis de Chavannes and Toulouse-Lautrec. The modelling work kindled her own ambition. Encouraged by Degas, the artist’s friend and mentor, she began working on drawings and prints. At the age of 18, she gave birth to her son, Maurice Utrillo who, with his mother’s help, went on to enjoy a successful career as an artist.
In 1882, Suzanne Valadon started to experiment in the use of oil as a medium. Her drawings and paintings were exhibited, capturing the attention of collectors, gallery owners and art critics. By 1910, Valadon was a confident painter. She had divorced her first husband and was about to get married a second time: to her son’s friend, André Utter, who was a mere 20 years old.
In the 1920s, Suzanne Valadon enjoyed great commercial success and, prior to her death in 1938, the French state purchased several of her works. In her lifetime, Suzanne Valadon exhibited both nationally and internationally. However, today she is chiefly known in her home country.
NY CARLSBERG GLYPTOTEK
Dantes Plads 7, Copenhagen 1556
