THE TEXT IS FLY WITHIN THE BOOK ONLY 759o492 Vl3s Storm, John $4*95 The Yaladon d:caniaj the life of Suzanne Valadon. Diibton, 2?lp. KANSAS CITY, MO. PUBLIC LIBRARY 1 ^ /X MAY 2'68 -7 The Valadon Drama The Life of Suzanne Valadon By JOHN STORM I ILLUSTRATED One of France's great woman artists, mistress of Renoir, and mother of Maurice Utrillo, Suzanne Valadon THE (1865-1938) lived a life as tempestu- ous and dramatic as the immortal era in French art in which she played a vital role. From early infancy until her death Suzanne Valadon belonged to the Bohemian world of Montmartre, then the center of the artistic life of Paris and the world. There, throughout her life, one of the most dynamic movements in the history of art raged about her. By turns a street waif, a circus performer, and a vivacious and lovely model, Suzanne Valadon be- came a powerful and original artist in her own right. She was also the teacher and protector of her famous but tragic son, whose world, like hers, centered in Montmartre. From the day when at the age of six- teen she first stood with other hopeful models by the fountain in the Place PIgalle, eager to enter the world of the painters, Suzanne Valadon saw herself as a part of the artist's work of creation. As quick to respond to love as to art, she soon became the mistress of the great muralist Puvis "Hbook, the first full-length biography" of Suzanne Valadon, is not only a moving and fascinating life story, but also a vivid panorama of the French artistic world in the famous period of the Impressionist and early mod- ern painters. The Valadon Dram THE LIFE OF SUZANNE VALADON ly John Storm ILLUSTRATED E. P. BUTTON & CO., INC. New York 1959 Copyright, 1958, by John Storm All rights reserved. Printed in the SECOND PRINTING FEBRUARY 1959 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in con- nection with a, review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-9605 For Margaret with love Contents Page Preface 13 I MOTHER AND DAUGHTER 17 II IN FLIGHT 41 III FRIENDSHIP 72 IV LOVERS AND THE ARTIST 93 V THE CURSE 117 VI THRESHOLD OF REVOLUTION 138 VII "UNHOLY TRINITY" 171 VIII FRUITS OF SUCCESS 213 IX THE WASP 242 Bibliography 261 Index 265 Illustrations Facing page After the Bath. Pastel drawing by Suzanne Valadon. 1908 64 Seated Nude Woman with Standing Woman Seen from Back in the Background. Crayon drawing by Suzanne Valadon 65 Family Bath. Drawing by Suzanne Valadon. 1910 65 Portrait of Suzanne Valadon in the hat he bought for her, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 96 Nude Reflection. Pastel drawing by Suzanne Valadon 96 Sacre-Coeur. Oil painting by Suzanne Valadon. 1929 97 Suzanne Valadon at the age of twenty 176 Maurice Utrillo, Suzanne Valadon, and Andre Utter in the studio in the rue Junot 176 Suzanne Valadon with her husband, Andre Utter, in 1920 176 The Valadon Family. Sketch for oil painting by Suzanne Valadon. 1913 177 Maurice Utrillo. Drawing by Suzanne Valadon. 1925 177 Woman with Cat. Oil painting by Suzanne Valadon 208 9 10 Vive la Jeunesse. One of the last paintings by Suzanne Valadon 208 Self-Portrait. The artist at 62. Oil painting by Suzanne Valadon 209 THE VALADON. DRAMA Prefc-ace SUZANNE VALADON LIVED HER LIFE AMONG PEOPLE WITH whom communication was largely on a personal and vocal basis. She had no opportunity to express herself to them in writing, and as she was extremely wary of the written word, it is unlikely that she would have written had there been opportunity. She kept no journal or diary. Suzanne Valadon acted and she talked. Almost all her life she lived in the heart of the Montmartre Butte, and for the greater part of that time one of the most dynamic move- ments in the history of art raged about her. Only during the first months of her life was she physically detached from that history. Alone, of all the artists who flocked to "the Sacred Hill" with their causes of Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism, Cubism, and other "schools," she belonged to the Montmartre scene quite literally from the cradle to the grave. It is interesting to note that on the Butte, which is strangely loath to commemorate the passing of its great personages with the blue and white plaques so often seen elsewhere in Paris, the Montmartrois themselves have installed a marble plaque on the Moulin Joyeux in rue du Mont-Cenis in her honor. No such marking records the passage of Lautrec, Degas, Cezanne, Monet, or Manet, nor Picasso, Braque, Modi- gliani, or Dufy. "Dans ce restaurant La Grande Artiste Suzanne Valadon 13 14 a dine de 1919 & 1955 accompagnee souvent de son fils Maurice Utrillo" But her life was in nowise spent solely among artists. Tradesmen, waiters, police, postmen, concierges, models, prostitutes, critics, writers, actors, musicians, sportsmen the ragtag and bobtail of the quarter were among her friends and confidants. In many respects they were also her audi- ence, for there was always something of a theatrical air in both her private and her public performances. It is largely from their recollections of her that I have drawn her story. Suzanne Valadon loved to talk; and in her later years par- ticularly, she was eager to speak to almost anyone who would listen to her. In her studio, in her kitchen, in any of the dozens of cafes and restaurants about the Place du Tertre, she would regale her listeners with theories about her work and art in general, about her domestic difficulties and personal problems, and, above all, with memories of her past. How truthful was she? How accurate were her listeners' and observers* accounts? Frankly it is hard to say. In the main, I am sure, most of the people I have interviewed have sought scrupulously to contribute only pertinent and honest material. For her own part, there can be no doubt that much of what she told people of herself was fanciful. But if her imaginings and untruths fail to throw a dependable light on biographical incidents, they do sharpen the sense of her personality, which was, after all, a more direct source of her art. I feel that whatever inaccuracies there may be in the fabric of her story today, there are bound to be a great many more as time goes on. Memories do not sharpen with time. Many of the people who knew her well are now dead. Is it not better, then, to capture what is left, imperfect though it may be, than to wait until Time has erased all? During the past forty years the importance of Suzanne Valadon's work has met with gradually increasing recogni- 15 tion. Savage and extremely personal, unconnected with any "school" of the past or present, her work was submerged for a long time beneath the surging tides which began with the birth of Impressionism. Today we realize that it stood alone as a statement of the independence of a creative intelligence, of uncompromising belief in draftsmanship in an era in which drawing was no longer considered overly important. It is primitive, strong, and frank, abounding in health and vigorous color; and it owes its power solely to the nervous energy and personality of a woman who came to grips with deeply tragic experiences of life. An insight into that life is important to an understanding of the work of one who is considered by many to be "France's greatest woman artist." Of more than a hundred people I have talked with I am deeply indebted especially to Mme. Georges Kars, Paul Petrides, Edmond Heuze, Mme. and Louis Chervin, Mme. Agnes Humbert, Jean Vertex, Henri Level, Demetrios Gal- anis, Andre Fillet, Georges Bernheim, Mme. Felice Colas, Mme. Yvonne Vigneron, Raymond Bordage, Gazi-LG., Georges Belize, Mme. Gustave Coquiot, and Robert Attilo, who, besides helping me gather anecdotal material, were at pains to have me understand Suzanne Valadon's personality. It is with their composite judgment that I have selected the substance of the book. In making decisions in respect to all interviews I have been guided less by the characters of the other witnesses than by the character of the remarkable sub- in ject they have limned for me. At times, as is inevitable the circumstances, I have written imaginatively of what must have occurred. For permission to reproduce the illustrations in the book and for access to the various collections of Suzanne Valadon's work, I am grateful to the Musee de PArt Moderne in Paris, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek in Copenhagen, the Arts Coun- cil and the Lefevre Gallery in London, the Archives Na- 16 tionales, the Art Institute of Chicago, Edmond Heuze, Paul Petrides, Andre Bernier, Gazi-I.G., Mme. Georges Kars, Mme. Yvonne Vigneron, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Garfunkel. And finally, I should like to express my debt to my wife, without whose support, criticism, and constant help the book could not have been written. J.S. I Mother and Daughter IT WAS NOT UNTIL SHE WAS AN OLD WOMAN THAT MADELEINE Valadon talked much about herself. It pleased her then to relate that as a young girl she had been married to a citizen of Limoges named Courlaud, by whom, as she put it, she had had "several children." When she was twenty-one, Courlaud died very suddenly in the city jail before charges against him had been entered on the books of the constabulary.