Artist
Suzanne Valadon (French, 1865–1938)French, 1865–1938
CultureFrench
Titles
- Self-Portrait
Date1898
PlaceParis, France
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions15 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. (40 × 26.7 cm)
Credit LineJohn A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, gift of Audrey Jones Beck
Object number98.306
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
223 Beck Galleries
Exposé
Explore Further
Department
European Art, Beck CollectionSpecial Collections
Object Type
[1] The musical composer Erik Satie knew Valadon. She executed a portrait of him, today in the Centre Pompidou, Paris. See https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/oeuvre/c4Ly7y (accessed by Robert McD. Parker on 23 September 2024.)
[2] The ownership by Norma Kars is corroborated by loans to two exhibitions and corresponding labels, once on the verso of the present work, subsequently removed: One, is for a Suzanne Valadon exhibition at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, (cat. no. 2) of an unidentifiable date, where the exhibition label indicates “Mrs. G. Kars, Paris,” as the work’s owner; unfortunately, no research to date has produced any additional supporting evidence. Another, for a 1955 exhibition (cat. no. 15) devoted to Charley Toroop and Suzanne Valadon at the Groninger Museum, The Netherlands, as referenced; here, the label also notes “Mrs. G. Kars, Paris,” as the work’s owner, and lists her address as Villa Seurat, Paris. [Surviving copies of the labels in black-and-white are included in MFAH object file-accessed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024].
[3] The work is listed in the cited 1961 exhibition as cat. no. 51, lent from a private collection in Paris; the owner is not identified elsewhere in the catalogue.
[4] Norma Kars died in 1966: Some works from the atelier of her husband Georges Kars were sold after her death (Drouot, Paris, June 22, 1966). It is likely, but not currently known, if the present work (sold at the Palais Galliéra, a few days earlier, on June, 17 1966) was the property of her estate.
[5] The work was purchased by Charles Durand-Ruel on behalf of Mr. John Beck per a letter from Claude Robert, the commissaire-priseur, or auctioneer, dated July 11, 1966 [MFAH object file-accessed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024].
Exhibition HistoryExhibited: "Exposition Suzanne Valadon", Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1923, no. 2.
Exhibited: "Charley Toorop, Suzanne Valadon",Gemeente Museum, Arnhem, Germany, 1955, no. 15.
Exhibited: "Marie-Anne Camax-Zoegger, Louise Hervieux, Suzanne Valadon", Musée Galliéra, Paris,1961, no. 51.
Exhibited: "The Collection of John A. and Audrey Jones Beck", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1974, pp. 94-95.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed and dated, lower left, recto: "Suzanne Valadon 1898"
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