Her black velvet eyes, captivating. More than the nude bodies of her friends. Or the chubby cheeks of Madame Roulin’s baby. I wonder if Madame would have approved.
Maria, 1907-10
Kees van Dongen
Oil on canvas
Tahitian Women Bathing, 1892
Paul Gauguin
Oil on paper laid down on canvas
Madame Roulin and Her Baby, 1888
Vincent van Gogh
Oil on canvas
Reclining Nude, 1928
Suzanne Valadon
Oil on canvas (lined)
Suzanne Valadon posed as a model for Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec before she began painting herself in 1893. While she favoured still lifes and portraits, Valadon is best known for her paintings of female nudes – a subject rarely chosen by women artists at the time.
The Robert Lehman Wing,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
March 19th, 2017
