The Bohemian Female Artist Who Broke All the Rules

The art and exploits of the remarkable Suzanne Valadon

The Blue Room (1923) by Suzanne Valadon. Oil on canvas. 90 × 116 cm. Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France. Image source Wikimedia Commons

The artist Suzanne Valadon painted The Blue Room in 1923, when she was approaching 60 and moving towards the tail end of a remarkable life.

The portrait shows a voluptuous brunette nonchalantly stretched out among the embroidered setting of a daybed. The…