Note Type
Historical NoteNote
Literature: L’oeuvre complet de Suzanne Valadon, Paul Pétridès, Paris, 1971, no. P160, illustrated Note Type
Artist’s Intent NoteNote
"Valadon created this still life shortly after the conclusion of World War I during one of the most prolific periods of her career. Opposite a tied back blue curtain, an artillery shell holds three roses harvested from the artist’s garden located outside her studio in Montmartre. Painted with abandon, the entire composition is comprised of bold, luminous color and confident lines. Valadon’s use of a weaponry remnant parallels the practice of soldiers and civilians who refashioned instruments of war to create decorative household objects, known today as trench art. André Utter, Valadon’s second husband, enlisted in the French armed forces at the onset of the War. In 1917, he was wounded in battle with the bullet lodged too close to his heart to be removed. Simultaneously, Valadon repeatedly attempted to help her son, Maurice Utrillo, a successful artist she had taught to paint, whose sustained battle with alcohol and depression required psychiatric treatment. Having endured the bombardment of Paris, Valadon had become intimately connected to the conflict and its aftermath. Bouquet of Roses in a Shell can be understood as a response to the trials of war as Valadon announces the triumph of life over tremendous loss" (Impressionist Legacies 76).