The Narrative Within

Suzanne Valadon

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Art for Housewives

Napoleon III (1808-1873) was the last Emperor of France. He lost his majestic role in 1870 when the Prussians defeated the French army at the Battle of Sedan. Before his defeat, Napoleon wanted to reassert international French influence and tried to expand France’s colonial power. He even tried to create a Second Mexican Empire (seems that, despite the French Revolution, the French had a thing for Empires).

Napoleon dreamed of the modernization of France. This included the reconstruction of Paris by Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann. Haussmann’s plan to modernize Paris relied much on the creation of new boulevards which would help relieve traffic congestion. Obviously, to make room for the boulevards, existing buildings had to be demolished causing many people to lose their homes. And as the population of Paris continued to grow, the geographical boundaries needed to expand. The solution was to annex surrounding communes into the city.

For about a decade, Paris was a huge construction site.

Many previous residents of the area had to move to places like Belleville (where Edith Piaf was born) and Ménilmontant (where Maurice Chevalier was born) and Montmartre. In 1860, Montmartre and other communes became a part of Paris. And, as the rents were cheap and the area full of nosey cafes, artists began moving into the area. And the Bohemian spirit flourished.

Although born outside of Paris, Suzanne Valadon grew up and eventually died in Montmartre. Her real name was Marie-Clémentine and for years she went by Marie. But here I will refer to her only as Suzanne.

Suzanne was raised by her single mom who washed people’s dirty clothes to support herself and her daughter. Childhood was a different thing for the poor than for the rich. Suzanne had no time for childhood. For awhile she worked as a seamstress. Like Coco Chanel, Suzanne had learned to sew from the nuns. But Suzanne had too much energy to sit around stitching. Circuses were quite popular at the time and Suzanne set her heart on becoming a trapezist. Although petite, Suzanne was very agile and had much physical strength. Enthusiastic about her new career, Suzanne had a tendency to be a bit too audacious. This caused her to fall during a performance. Her back was hurt and she could no longer perform. Now she needed a new career.

Because of all the artists who’d moved to the area, there was much demand for artists’ models. Suzanne was not only beautiful, but she knew how to hold a pose. Modeling became her chief source of income. Now Suzanne was having a great time modeling and hanging out with the artists at the Lapin Agile drinking and dancing and being bohemian. She was now a part of the avant garde Paris.

In 1883, eighteen year old Suzanne gave birth to Maurice. She wasn’t sure who the father was (some speculate Renoir but he denied it). Busy trying to earn a living, she’d leave her son in the care of her mom. Her mom, unfortunately, was an alcoholic and would often give little Maurice liquor to keep him quiet. By the time Maurice was a teenager, he was an alcoholic with mental health problems.

Around the age of nine, Suzanne began teaching herself how to draw but kept it a secret. Now, as an artists’ model, she was able to learn by watching the artists at work. While the artist looked at her, she looked back. She modelled for Toulouse-Lautrec who, once he saw her drawings, encouraged her to keep drawing. Suzanne was still going by Marie-Clementine but Lautrec changed that. Since Suzanne was always getting involved with older men, Lautrec started calling her “Suzanne” as in “Suzanne and the Elders”. And the name stuck.

One of Suzanne’s big concerns was her son’s mental instability that would continue to torment her for years. Hoping that it would help heal him, Suzanne taught her son how to paint.

Sexually, Suzanne was very uninhibited and had numerous overlapping lovers. For a few months she was involved with Satie who fell head over heels. Suzanne was also keeping herself entertained with Paul Mousis, a wealthy stockbroker whom she married in 1895. It was a radical change of lifestyle for her. For 13 years she lived in economic tranquility for the first time. She had a chauffeur and a maid and money enough to buy all the paints she needed. But Suzanne was not a bourgeois and grew bored with her affluent lifestyle. She wanted to go back to Montmartre where she felt at home.

Maurice had started trying to sell paintings. One day he brough home a friend, André Utter, a 23 year old artist. Suzanne, impressed by his looks, used André as a model for her Adam in the painting “Adam and Eve”. The rapport became sexual. Suzanne’s husband was not happy and the two divorced in 1913.

Now a new and bizarre menage is formed between Suzanne, her son, and her son’s best friend. André became part of Suzanne’s household and, in 1914, they married. Andrè was no longer Maurice’s friend but his step-father. The trio used to have many quarrels and drunken brawls to the point that they earned the name trinité maudite (cursed trinity).

And for many years, the trio continued like that.

Initially, Utter had been very good at selling paintings for Suzanne and Maurice. But then the dynamics started changing. Utter started messing around with the girls driving Suzanne wacko.

But Suzanne was now a recognized artist who could maintain herself with the sales of her paintings.

Suzanne died in Montmartre in 1938 at the age of 72. Her funeral drew quite a crowed, Even Picasso was there.

Suzanne the model:

Auguste Renoir – Dance at Bougival – painting of Suzanne Valadon – 1883

Berthe Morisot – Tightrope Walker – painting of Suzanne Valadon, 1886

Edgar Degas – The Tub – painting of Suzanne Valladon - 1886

Toulouse-Lautrec – The Hangover – portrait of Suzanne Valladon 1889

Renoir’s Art Model Was the Greatest Painter You Never Heard Of + Suzanne Valadon: Artist and Muse of Montmartre + The Blue Room painting + Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, Artist Of Montmartre +

Artists’ canteen: the Lapin Agile cabaret + WOMEN ARTISTS: Suzanne Valadon +

Old Montmartre in Photos and Paintings + Montmartre Then & Now + Montmartre, la leggendaria collina degli artisti di Parigi +

Synergy & Solidarity

Posted in art, Art Narratives, Beauty, Conditions of Possibility | Tagged Auguste Renoir, Baron Haussmann, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Impressionism, Maurice Utrillo, Montmartre, Napoleon III, Paris, Suzanne Valadon, Toulouse-Lautrec | 4 Comments

O. Henry’s Leaf

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Art for Housewives

One is a lonely number. It’s static and goes nowhere on its own. To move, it takes two. That’s why we need interrelations because, without them, we cannot evolve.

Sue and Johnsy were two young artists living in the art colony not far from Washington Square. They’d moved in in May but by November, Johnsy had pneumonia and risked dying. As Johnsy had already convinced herself that she was going to die, the doctor said her only chance of survival was to find the will to live.

Looking out of her bedroom window, Johnsy could see an ivy vine growing on a brick wall across the way. Initially, the vine was full of leaves but, as it was fall, they started dropping with increasing rapidness until there was only one leaf left on the wine. Johnsy was convinced that once that leaf dropped, she would die.

Behrman was a fierce little old man who lived in the apartment downstairs from the two young women. He was an artist who’d never managed to create a masterpiece and, without enthusiasm, modelled for Sue to earn needed money. After 40 years as an artist, all he had to show for it was a blank canvas on his easel that was still waiting to be painted.

Sue told Behrman about Johnsy’s conviction that she would die once that last leaf fell from the vine. But the elderly artist just grunted.

That afternoon, Johnsy wanted to keep the window curtains open so she could watch the last leaf fall. Fortunately, Sue convinced her to go to eat then sleep instead.

When Johnsy woke up the next morning, she saw that the leaf was still hanging on. So she decided to try hanging on, too, and thought about how lovely it would be to paint the Bay of Naples.

The doctor was amazed at Johnsy’s quick recovery of will and health. Unfortunately, now it was Behrman who was dying. The janitor had found him helpless and in pain, his body wet and icy cold. It seems Behrman had spent the night out in the cold painting an ivy leaf on the wall so Johnsy would not know that the last leaf had already fallen.

Behrman is portrayed as a failure who wasted his time drinking gin instead of painting. But was Behrman really a failure? He may not have been a well-known artist but his painting of the leaf did something most paintings don’t do—it gave someone the will to live and in doing so saved their life. And is there anything more successful than that?

So why not give someone a leaf?

The story is that of O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf” and you can read it online for free HERE.

Posted in art, Art Narratives, Daily Aesthetics | Tagged artists, ekphrasis, interrelating, masterpiece, O. Henry, short stories, The Last Leaf | 2 Comments

Starry Starry Night

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Art for Housewives

The year I graduated from high school, Don McLean’s “Starry Night” peaked the music charts at number 12 in the U.S. I was charmed by the song but not enamoured. Had I known it was about Vincent Van Gogh, I might have felt differently.

In the fall of 1970, Don McLean was gigging in schools playing guitar and singing. At school one day, he came across Van Gogh’s biography. After reading it, McLean’s heart went boom. The story of the artist’s life really moved him and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. So he sat down and, while looking at a print of Van Gogh’s 1889 painting “Starry Night,” wrote this song on a brown paper bag. The bag is now buried in a time capsule (along with the artist’s paintbrushes) beneath Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.

McLean, years later in an interview, would say he felt compelled to write a tribute to the misunderstood artist.

Now, I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now.

Sometimes a work of art affects you so much that, mentally, you want to keep holding on to it. So you write a poem or some prose about it. This attempt to verbally represent something visual is known as Ekphrasis/Έκφραση.

Van Gogh’s art has inspired much ekphrasic writing. For example, Anne Sexton wrote an ekphrastic poem about Van Gogh’s painting. But I read Anne’s biography and prefer not to write about her. Charles Bukowski also wrote about Van Gogh. It’s short and starts out like this:

Van Gogh cut off his ear
gave it to a
prostitute
who flung it away in
extreme
disgust.

-30-

Related: Ekphrastic Writing Responses: Vincent Van Gogh + 10 of the Best Ekphrastic Poems about Pictures + Introduction. The engaging eye: Ekphrasis and twentieth-century poetry + Vincent Van Gogh | The Starry Night | Saint Rémy, June 1889 | MoMa + See 10 Songs Every Art Lover Should Know + Burroughs and his `Van Gogh kick’ + Van Gogh and Kerouac + Julio Iglesias Vincent (Starry Starry Night) +

An analysis of W. D. Snodgrass‘s “Van Gogh: ‘The Starry Night’” +

Posted in art | Tagged Don McClean, Ekphrastic Writing, Stary Night, Vincent Van Gogh | 4 Comments

Motown Pesto

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Art for Housewives

The basil growing on our balcony is out of control. It’s time to make a Pesto Zucchini Lasagna Texan style. Authentic pesto is made by crushing the basil with a pestle and mortar. But I am lazy and simply throw all the ingredients into the blender—basil, grated parmesan, garlic, and sunflower seeds (generally pine nuts are used but they are too expensive). I like a bit of lemon zest in it, too.

The boring part of making this lasagna is cutting the zucchini into long strips and grilling them on a skillet pan. To distract my boredom, I listen to music. Today I’m in the Motown Mood thanks to a BBC documentary I watched yesterday about Motown, “When Motown Came to Britain”. Wow.

Berry Gordy Jr, boxer, part-time pimp, and factory worker wanted to become a fulltime songwriter. After receiving next to nothing for successful songs he’d written, Gordy decided he’d be better off opening his own recording studio then finding his own artists to record the songs he’d written. He was living in Detroit that, thanks to the growing automobile industry, had seen a number of Blacks arriving from the south in hopes of getting a job. Gordy named his label Motown, an abbreviation of “Motor City Town”.

In 1959, with financial help from his family, Gordy acquired a house at 2648 W. Grand Blvd known as “Hitsville U.S.A”. It was here that the Motown sound was born. In Detroit’s Black neighborhoods, young men generally belonged to either a gang or a group. The conditions of possibility were limited for young Blacks and the dream of becoming a recording artist had them lined up in front of Hitsville all day long hoping to meet Gordy, sign a recording contract, then have a hit record so they could get out of the ghetto.

Gordy, who had worked several months on a Ford assembly line, got the idea that young talent needed to be assembled, too. The young singers who signed on with Gordy came from poor and often dysfunctional families. Having known only hunger and hardship, all they wanted was a hit record and money. But Gordy knew that, if they made a hit, this would mean that they would have to go on tour.

Singing is one thing but performing is another. Talent does not guarantee a good stage presence. Motown had a lot of diamonds, but they needed a good cut and some polishing. Thanks to having spent Sundays singing in church, many of the singers already had a good vocal preparation. But if Gordy wanted to sell records to white people, his artists needed to dazzle and impress.

Motown created an artistic development department with the specific role of making the singers’ stage presence better. There was a voice coach and musical arranger as well as a choreographer, Cholly Atkins. It was Atkins who taught the singers how to synchronize their moves so that they’d look like puzzle pieces falling into place.

“I believe in class. Class will turn the heads of kings and queens:” Maxine

And then there was Maxine. Maxine Powell (1915-2013), although she was from Texarkana, Texas, she was raised by her aunt in Chicago. Here Maxine worked as a manicurist to pay for her acting studies. She also worked as a model and a personal maid. In 1945 Maxine moved to Detroit where she opened a finishing and modeling school to transform ugly ducklings into swans. Gordy’s mom and sister had been Maxine’s students and suggested Gordy collaborate with her. Maxine’s role was to teach the performers good manners, social graces, and grooming skills. Her most important role was that of mentor and motivator. The first day of class she always told her students that they needed to know themselves. Without knowing what your strengths and your weaknesses are, it’s easy to crumble.

After Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles, Maxine did not have the same kind of rapport with her artists as before. But years later, she secretly went to see Diana Ross perform on Broadway to see if Diana was still following her advice. Someone told Diana that Maxine was in the audience and Diana insisted that Maxine go on stage. Here the pop star hugged Maxine and told the audience; I wouldn’t be her now had it not been for this woman.

Class.

David Godin was a soul music fan. He collected R&B records and encouraged his classmate at Dartford Grammar School, Mick Jagger, to do the same. At that time, British music was very beige and only British music was allowed on British airways. But a pirate boat radio station invaded the frequencies and played Motown non-stop. Godin was so zapped by Motown that he founded the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society.

Gordy, who from the beginning wanted international fame, and, learning about the growing number of fans on the other side of the Atlantic, decided it was time for Motown to go to Britain. And in 1965, Motown arrived to tour England with performances scheduled in places like Liverpool, Wigan, Leicester, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow. So the Motown artists got on a bus and travelled around the English countryside going from one gig to another.

Unfortunately, the tour was not well organized. The singers (including The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) were forced to travel hours on a bus only to arrive at the venue and find it virtually empty. Sometimes they would only have a handful of people there to listen. Nevertheless, they would put on a professional performance.

But just a few weeks later, Dusty Springfield hosted a TV special introducing the British public to Motown. It was a big success.

Northern Soul.

Existence was bleak in Northern England. If you wanted to work, you had to work in a factory day after day, week after week, month after month. Life was repetitious and gray. Then an all-night dance club called the Twisted Wheel opened in Manchester playing only the Motown sound. The club was a hit and every Saturday, young people from all over the North, would take a bus or a train to go to the club with the intention of dancing all night. But to keep them animated enough to dance, they would take pills.

The success of Northern Soul hit a bump when, after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr and the return of Black American soldiers from Viet Nam, there was a major mood change in the music. The lollipop vibe turned into funk. But the Northern Soul dance style depended upon the 4/4 beat that new Motown releases were not providing. So old Motown songs that were B side or unknown were sought to keep the energy pumped up. But music is about taste and tastes change.

Motown was more than just music. It was entangled with the Civil Rights Movement and had an important role in boosting Black self-esteem. Jim Crow laws and racial segregation were still being practiced. But Blacks were ready for a major change. In 1955 in Alabama, Rosa Parks defied the bus driver’s orders to go to the “colored” section. In 1957, Elizabeth Ann Eckford was one of the first Black students to attend Little Rock High School in Arkansas. Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling in 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education, Elizabeth had a right to attend that high school. Nevertheless, the Arkansas National Guard blocked her and physically kept her from entering the school.

In 1963, Civil Rights groups united to organize the March on Washington. It was here that MLK made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The speech was so inspiring that King asked Motown Records if they could record for him.

LOTS OF LINKS!

When Motown Came to Britain (BBC Documentary) on Youtube

Related: Motortown Revue UK Tour, 1965 + Dave Godin, Esperanto-speaking vegan who became an apostle of soul + Inside Motown’s first UK tour: ‘We were treated like royalty’ + Motown: Six Months That Shook The World + British Invasion? This Is About The Time Motown Invaded England + Geraldo 1990 “Ladies of Motown” video + RSG! The Sound Of Motown 1965 with Dusty Springfield +

What Really Happened To Florence Ballard? + DREAMGIRLS, movie based in large part on Supremes and Barry Gordy …Jennifer Hudson like Florence Ballard, Beyonce like Diana Ross, and Jamie Fox like Barry Gordy + Lady Sings the Blues (1972) HD Movie + Diana Ross Drug Addiction + DREAMGIRLS movie + The Monarchs of Motown + Kennedy Center Honors Berry Gordy +

Berry Gordy Described Diana Ross as the Queen of His Life + Diana Ross’ childhood home + How Muddy Waters inspired The Rolling Stones + How Childhood Friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Formed The Rolling Stones + Songs That Influenced The Rolling Stones: 10 Essential Blues Tracks + the untold truth of Muddy Waters +

Maxine Powell, Motown’s Maven of Style, Dies at 98 + Maxine Powell – Former Director of Motown Charm + Maven of Motown: Maxine Powell – Etiquette Coach for Motown’s Greatest Artists + Maxine Powell – Interview Part 1 – 7/6/1986 + MAXINE POWELL CHARM MAVEN OF MOTOWN

Read online (archive). Berry, me, and Motown: the untold story + The Motown Story +

Motown and Civil Rights: How to Listen to MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech in Full + Detroit’s Walk to Freedom and Motown’s Contribution to the Civil Rights Movement + Jim Crow laws and racial segregation + in 1955, Rosa Parks defied segregation + Elizabeth Ann Eckford and being one of the first Black students at Little Rock High School +

Posted in Beauty, Conditions of Possibility, Music | Tagged Berry Gordy, Civil Rights, Detroit, Dusty Springfield, Martin Luther King, Maxine Powell, Motown, Northern Soul, segregation, Supremes, Temptations | 2 Comments

Just an Ordinary Day

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Art for Housewives

Just an ordinary day. “And then gone. Joan Didion

What a crass, loud, and inhumane world we are living in. It’s so easy these days to get distracted and to wander from one’s core. It’s so very easy to get lost.

To avoid feeling displaced, I’m focusing on the beauty found in ordinary days. It helps to keep me anchored. It also helps to keep me in charge of evaluating my own reality. To make this focusing a visual documentation, too, I’m making simple and unpretentious little “pro-memoria” paintings. They’re on cardboard and have plastic crocheted frames.

One day I will look at these colored vignettes and think how beautiful the ordinary has been to me.