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Joy in the Life of Suzanne Valadon
The painter’s rags-to-riches, injured-acrobat-to-feminist-icon life story would seem wildly unrealistic — if it were not true.
Imagine reading this as a plot of a movie.
On Sept. 23, 1865, an unmarried domestic worker gives birth to a daughter and names her Marie-Clémentine. By age six, Marie-Clémentine is running freely about the streets of the famous Parisian bohemian enclave of Monmartre. A curious child, she takes an interest in the work of artists living in the area. But as the daughter of poor woman, Marie-Clémentine must go to work in her early years. She makes funeral wreaths and sells vegetables.
Around age of 15, Marie-Clémentine lands her dream job. She becomes an acrobat in the circus. An injury brings this career to an end, and she focuses more on work as painter’s model.
But even as artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec use her as a muse, she studies their craft. She renames herself Suzanne and in time becomes a successful painter. She’s able to support her family. Her household includes not only her mother and son, but her handsome and much younger husband. Sales of Suzanne’s paintings allow them to live in style.
