A French painter of figures, still life, floral art and landscape, and the first female artist to be admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Suzanne Valadon specialized in modernist figure work in oil and pastel. She was such a perfectionist that it was not unusual for her to wait more than ten years before releasing a work from her studio. Unlike many artists working at the same time, she was financially successful during her lifetime. She broke tradition with her figure painting in that she often depicted unglamorous female nude figures, homely women, who obviously had no interest in attracting men and were just having a good time being who they were. Her forms were strongly delineated, brightl...