Suzanne Valadon: The making of an artist.
Item
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Title
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Suzanne Valadon: The making of an artist.
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Identifier
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AAI9732966
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identifier
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9732966
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Creator
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Rosinsky, Therese Diamand.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Linda Nochlin
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History | Biography
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Abstract
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Little is known about the magnitude of the personal and artistic achievements of Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938). This dissertation examines her early life and work, a period crucial to the development of her mature style. It focuses on two distinct objectives: (a) establishing the truth about formerly unresolved problems and undisclosed events of her youth, (b) analyzing the causes and circumstances of her vocation. Her rare writings, unpublished correspondence from her family and entourage, and interviews of friends and familiars provide insight into her personality and the basic aims that conditioned her art.;Valadon was one of the first nineteenth-century women from a working class to become a professional artist. Her ongoing work as a model should have prevented her from being acknowledged as a professional artist since these careers were viewed as irreconcilable. Yet, she prevailed in establishing herself as a significant painter while maintaining her personal vision. Staying away from contemporary art movements, she imparted to her subjects bold and novel treatments that broke with centuries-old traditions.;Her works are based on perceptions conditioned by two determining factors: her gender and her life in Montmartre. Any reading of her art starts with her identity as an unmarried mother at the age of eighteen, and as a model functioning in a male-dominated society ruled by strict social and sexual codes. Growing up and spending her entire life in bohemian Montmartre provided a permanent contact with art that allowed her to view its creation as a natural function.;Retracing Valadon's early years with accuracy is essential to establish a valid scholarship concerning her oeuvre. Problems, such as her illegitimacy and that of Maurice Utrillo, of crucial importance to her life and work, have never been seriously investigated.;Since she was a self-taught artist, her acquisition of an early academic technique and imagery is examined. Degas' influence on her art and personality, that of the painters for whom she posed, and the guidance of her husband Andre Utter, played a major role on her oeuvre. All these factors were instrumental in shaping her artistic persona.;With her liaison with Utter in 1909 and her subsequent marriage to him in 1914, her stylistic development changed course. After a decade under his influence, her formative years were over. By the early 1920's, Suzanne Valadon entered her artistic coming of age.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
