Two Artists who mattered

For a country that offered many wonderful painters during the late 1900s and the years that followed, a group of women painters seemed to have taken a back seat. But they soon emerged and are worth studying. This is not to say they were the only ones but a few women come to mind whose work is considered first class. They are Suzanne Valadon and Berthe Morisot. Yes, there were others like Mary Cassatt, Camille Claudel, Sonia Delaunay and Marie Laurencin. But today I want to introduce you to my two favorites. Born in 1841, the daughter of a civil servant and the grand niece of the painter Fragonard, Berthe Morisot, began studying and copying the old masters during the second half of the 19th century. She became a student of Corot. It was he who suggested that she paint out of doors. Later she received more advice from Edouard Manet and, in time, she married Manet’s brother Eugene. They moved to Paris. Their home became a regular meeting place for both painters and writers. The group included Renoir and Malarme who became a close friend and admirer. Berthe’s painting was mostly of women and children but she did paint out of doors with suggestions from Manet, her brother in law. My first serious look at Berthe Morisot’s work was at the Marmottin Museum in Paris where I was able to examine first hand some of the most sensuous and delicate work I had seen. Anyone interested in late 19th century work should visit the museum at their first opportunity. The aid of Eduard Manet is incalculable. He suggested a more conservative approach and the confining of her use of color to a more natural framework. (It is interesting to note that at almost the same time, Paul Cezanne was also limiting his use of color which led to his great influence and success.) Her lifetime outpouring includes over 300 paintings catalogued with an introductioin by Malarme. There is no doubting her great contribution to French impressionistic art especially using women and children as her theme. Her work is all so delicate whether in her use of water colors or oils. The fragility seems to jump off the paper. She can be attached historically to the work of Mary Cassat the American artist whose theme was very similar. Berthe died in 1895. The Musee Marmottan, which houses her work, is located at 2 rie Louis-Boilly in Paris 16th arrondissement.   Susan Valadon had more humble beginnings and went in a different direction than Berthe. While she may be well known as the mother of Maurice Utrillo, her artistic output is worth a deeper look. She had worked as a laundress (her mother was an unmarried laundress), a dressmaker’s assistant and a circus acrobat after an injury as a model for Degas, Renoir and Lautrec. But at eighteen she became a mother and was forced to find other work. Encouraged by Degas and Lautrec, she turned to lithography and etching. By 1909 she turned more seriously to painting and became one of the best known women painters of her time. But her life was cut short when she died in 1938 after suffering a stroke. It was her ability to overcome gigantic obstacles of both class and gender that made her special. She disregarded convention and painted both beautiful and homely nudes from working class communities. She was the first woman to be admitted to the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She worked for over ten years before she showed anyone her paintings. When one looks closely at the portrait she did of musician Eric Satie, it brings to mind the one who enjoyed frequenting bars. Satie met Susan at a nightclub where he played the piano. At the time he lived next door to Suzanne at 6 rue Carton. He proposed marriage to her the day they met. The then struggling musician was obsessed with Suzanne. Before they split up she did a portrait of Satie which was found in his apartment when he died. In her lifetime she did eventually marry but left her husband fifteen years later when she met and married a painter half her age. Suzanne Valadon died in 1938 and was buried in the Cimetiere de Saint-Quen. At the funeral were countless painters. Among them were Andre Derain, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. One famous painting of her was done by Lautrec as the subject of The Hangover. She painted still life, portraits, and landscapes using vibrant colors. Her works can be seen at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Musee des Beaux Arts in Grenoble and in New York at the Metropolitan Museum. Note: Her son Maurice was not aware of his father. He took the name Utrillo from a close friend of his mother, Miguel Utrillo y Morlius who owned an auberge. Arnie Greenberg