Standing Nude with Drapery

Suzanne Valadon is known for her female nudes drawn with a firm, graceful line. While these are typically candid and uncontrived, here the model assumes a classical contrapposto stance. The right leg carries the weight of her body, while the relaxed left leg provides balance. Behind her back, she holds a white drapery, shaded in blue, which falls to the f loor and pools around her feet. Subtle touches of red lend warmth to the lines of her face, neck and shoulders. Valadon, a former circus acrobat and artist’s model, was the first woman admitted to the Societé Nationale des Beaux-Arts (1894) and was the mother of artist Maurice Utrillo.