From Library Journal
This is a stimulating, mature, jargon-free monograph on the enterprising French model-turned-artist Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938). Though art historian Rosinsky is perhaps a too cautious feminist critic, she recounts in fascinating detail Valadon's proletarian status, bohemian lifestyle, and astounding innate abilities. Far more than just the mother and teacher of Maurice Utrillo, Valadon revitalized depictions of the working-class studio nude-both with and without allegory-through sympathetic firsthand experience. Her vital, corpulent subjects charted modern female experience nearly as bluntly as her daring group of nude self-portraits. This compact volume is plentifully illustrated with 22 color and 27 black-and-white images. Highly recommended for all collections.
Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Suzanne Valadon is a captivating biography introducing an artist who overcame tremendous obstacles of class and gender to set a new standard for both male and female artists of her time. Valadon's portraits, nudes, and landscapes garnered the admiration of her contemporaries like Degas, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Wonderfully illustrated with twenty black and white, and twenty full-color examples of Valadon's work. -- Midwest Book Review
