Suzanne Valadon

Suzanne Valadon, born Marie-Clémentine Valadon in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, France, was a pioneering French painter and former artists' model. In 1894, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She was also the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo.

Valadon spent nearly 40 years creating art, focusing on female nudes, portraits, still lifes, and landscapes, such as Joy of Life (1911). She never attended an academy and was known for breaking free from artistic traditions.

As a model, Valadon appeared in works by artists like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, including Dance at Bougival (1883), and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who painted her portrait in 1885.