“The Blue Room”
This oil on canvas painting is by the French Symbolist and Post-Impressionist artist, Suzanne Valadon, from 1923, and is titled “The Blue Room”. It is a portrait by the woman who was a muse to Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlein, and Chavannes. She was about 58 years old when she created it, and it is one of her most well-known paintings.
In this piece, the model is depicted in an unconventional portrait for the time. Instead of nude, she is clothed and lounging on a daybed covered in blue and white floral sheets, gazing off to the side with a cigarette hanging from her mouth. Two books lay near her feet.
This piece has marked characteristics of her later works, including a much more detailed, busy background, depicting varying prints, and composed of strong colors.
“The Blue Room” is currently in the collections of the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, France.
For more on Suzanne Valadon, please visit her short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
it is not a self portrait
Really?! Wow. This whole time I thought it was. I will correct the page. Thank you! Any idea who the model is?