"The Blue Room" by Suzanne Valadon

“The Blue Room”

“The Blue Room” is an oil on canvas painting by the French Symbolist and Post-Impressionist artist, Suzanne Valadon, from 1923. Valadon was a muse and model to Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlein, and Chavannes, amongst others. She was about 58 years old when she created this piece. It is one of her most well-known paintings.

In this piece, a woman is lounging on a bed with a cigarette hanging from her mouth. She is gazing off to the side. Two books rest on the bed by her feet. This is an unconventional portrait for the time. Instead of nude, the subject is clothed. She is in green and white striped pants and a pale pink strapped top. She is lounging on a bed covered with a blue bedspread with a white floral pattern. This piece has marked characteristics of her later works, including a much more detailed, busy background, depicting varying prints, and composed of strong colors.

Suzanne Valadon’s most known pieces are nudes of women, though she also painted portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. One of her first patrons was Edgar Degas who liked her strong compositions. Degas purchased three of her pastel pieces and personally introduced Valadon to other collectors. Valadon’s technique used bold lines and vibrant colors. As a perfectionist, she sometimes spent many years completing her pieces.

“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.