Séraphine Louis
Encyclopedia
Séraphine Louis, known as "Séraphine de Senlis" ("Séraphine of Senlis
") (1864–1942), was a French painter in the naïve style
. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith and by stained-glass church windows and other religious art. The intensity of her images, both in colour and in replicative designs, are sometimes interpreted as a reflection of her own psyche, walking a tightrope between ecstasy and mental illness.
(Oise
) on September 3, 1864. Her father was a manual laborer and her mother came from a farmworking background. Séraphine's mother died on her first birthday and her father, who remarried, also died before she was seven; at which point, she came under the charge of her eldest sister. She first worked as a shepherdess but, by 1881, she was engaged as a domestic worker
at the convent
of the Sisters of Providence
in Clermont
(Oise). Beginning in 1901, she was employed as a housekeeper for middle class families in the town of Senlis
.
Alongside her arduous day jobs, Séraphine painted by candlelight, largely in secret isolation, until her considerable body of work was discovered in 1912 by German art collector Wilhelm Uhde
. While in Senlis, Uhde saw a still-life of apples at his neighbor's house and was astonished to learn that Séraphine, his housecleaner, was the artist. His support had barely begun to lift her horizons when he was forced to leave France in August 1914; the war between France and Germany had made him an unwelcome outsider in Senlis, much as Séraphine was, given her eccentric persona. They only reestablished contact in 1927 when Uhde – back in France and living in Chantilly
- visited an exhibition of local artists in Senlis and, seeing Séraphine's work, realized that she had survived and her art had flourished. Under Uhde's patronage, Séraphine began painting large canvases as large as two meters high, and she achieved prominence as the naïve painter
of her day. In 1929, Uhde organized an exhibition, "Painters of the Sacred Heart," that featured Séraphine's art, launching her into a period of financial success she had never known - and was ill prepared to manage. Then, in 1930, with the effects of the Great Depression
destroying the finances of her patrons, Uhde had no choice but to stop buying her paintings.
In 1932, Séraphine was admitted for "chronic psychosis
" at Clermont
's lunatic asylum
, where her artistry found no outlet. Although Uhde reported that she had died in 1934, Séraphine actually lived until 1942 in a hospital annex at Villers-sous-Erquery
, where she died friendless and alone. She was buried in a common grave.
Uhde continued to exhibit her work: in 1932, at the exhibition "The Modern Primitives" in Paris; in 1937-38 in an exhibition titled "The Popular Masters of Reality" which showed in Paris, Zurich, and New York (at MoMA
); in 1942, at the "Primitives of the 20th Century" exhibition in Paris, and finally, in 1945, in a solo exhibition of her work in Paris.
Séraphine was an artist consumed by an irrepressible urge to create – "this famous internal necessity of which Kandinsky spoke", terms employed by Bertrand Lorquin, conservator of the Musée Maillol
in his introduction to the exhibition "Séraphine Louis dite Séraphine de Senlis" at the Musée Maillol in Paris which ran from October 1, 2008 to May 18, 2009).
in Paris, the Musée d'art de Senlis
, the Musée d'art naïf in Nice
, and the Musée d'Art moderne Lille Métropole in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
In 2009, the French biographical film Séraphine
by director Martin Provost
won seven César Awards
, including Best Film and Best Actress for Yolande Moreau
who starred in the title role. The film explored the relationship between Séraphine and Wilhelm Uhde
, from their first encounter in 1912, until the death of Séraphine.
Senlis, Oise
Senlis is a French commune located in the Oise department near Paris. It has a long and rich heritage, having traversed centuries of history. This medieval town has welcomed some of the most renowned figures in French history, including Hugh Capet, Louis IX, the Marshall of France, Anne of Kiev and...
") (1864–1942), was a French painter in the naïve style
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith and by stained-glass church windows and other religious art. The intensity of her images, both in colour and in replicative designs, are sometimes interpreted as a reflection of her own psyche, walking a tightrope between ecstasy and mental illness.
Biography
Séraphine Louis was born in ArsyArsy
Arsy is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....
(Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
) on September 3, 1864. Her father was a manual laborer and her mother came from a farmworking background. Séraphine's mother died on her first birthday and her father, who remarried, also died before she was seven; at which point, she came under the charge of her eldest sister. She first worked as a shepherdess but, by 1881, she was engaged as a domestic worker
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
at the convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of the Sisters of Providence
Sisters of Providence
The Sisters of Providence are an order of Roman Catholic sisters founded in 1843 by Mother Émilie Gamelin. They are headquartered in Montreal, Quebec with five provinces: Mother Joseph Province, Holy Angels Province , Philippines Vice-Province, Émilie-Gamelin Province and Bernard Morin...
in Clermont
Clermont, Oise
Clermont is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-Main sights:* Church St Samson containing numerous Painting from the seventeenth century...
(Oise). Beginning in 1901, she was employed as a housekeeper for middle class families in the town of Senlis
Senlis, Oise
Senlis is a French commune located in the Oise department near Paris. It has a long and rich heritage, having traversed centuries of history. This medieval town has welcomed some of the most renowned figures in French history, including Hugh Capet, Louis IX, the Marshall of France, Anne of Kiev and...
.
Alongside her arduous day jobs, Séraphine painted by candlelight, largely in secret isolation, until her considerable body of work was discovered in 1912 by German art collector Wilhelm Uhde
Wilhelm Uhde
Wilhelm Uhde was a German art collector, dealer, author and critic, an early collector of modernist painting, and a significant figure in the career of Henri Rousseau.-Biography:...
. While in Senlis, Uhde saw a still-life of apples at his neighbor's house and was astonished to learn that Séraphine, his housecleaner, was the artist. His support had barely begun to lift her horizons when he was forced to leave France in August 1914; the war between France and Germany had made him an unwelcome outsider in Senlis, much as Séraphine was, given her eccentric persona. They only reestablished contact in 1927 when Uhde – back in France and living in Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
- visited an exhibition of local artists in Senlis and, seeing Séraphine's work, realized that she had survived and her art had flourished. Under Uhde's patronage, Séraphine began painting large canvases as large as two meters high, and she achieved prominence as the naïve painter
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
of her day. In 1929, Uhde organized an exhibition, "Painters of the Sacred Heart," that featured Séraphine's art, launching her into a period of financial success she had never known - and was ill prepared to manage. Then, in 1930, with the effects of the Great Depression
Great Depression in France
The Great Depression affected France from about 1931 through the remainder of the decade. The depression had drastic effects on the local economy, which can partly explain the 6 February 1934 crisis and even more the formation of the Popular Front, led by SFIO socialist leader Léon Blum, who won...
destroying the finances of her patrons, Uhde had no choice but to stop buying her paintings.
In 1932, Séraphine was admitted for "chronic psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
" at Clermont
Clermont, Oise
Clermont is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-Main sights:* Church St Samson containing numerous Painting from the seventeenth century...
's lunatic asylum
History of psychiatric institutions
The story of the rise of the lunatic asylum and its gradual transformation into, and eventual replacement by, the modern psychiatric hospital, is also the story of the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry...
, where her artistry found no outlet. Although Uhde reported that she had died in 1934, Séraphine actually lived until 1942 in a hospital annex at Villers-sous-Erquery
Erquery
Erquery is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....
, where she died friendless and alone. She was buried in a common grave.
Uhde continued to exhibit her work: in 1932, at the exhibition "The Modern Primitives" in Paris; in 1937-38 in an exhibition titled "The Popular Masters of Reality" which showed in Paris, Zurich, and New York (at MoMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
); in 1942, at the "Primitives of the 20th Century" exhibition in Paris, and finally, in 1945, in a solo exhibition of her work in Paris.
Works
Séraphine's works are predominantly rich fantasies of intensely repeated and embellished floral arrangements. She used colours and pigments that she made herself from unusual and exotic ingredients she never revealed that have stood the test of time for durable vividness. Her paintings' surfaces have a matte, almost waxy appearance. Sometimes her signature (typically "S. Louis") was carved by knife, revealing a ground of contrasting colour. In some cases, she appears to have signed her paintings before painting them.Séraphine was an artist consumed by an irrepressible urge to create – "this famous internal necessity of which Kandinsky spoke", terms employed by Bertrand Lorquin, conservator of the Musée Maillol
Musée Maillol
The Musée Maillol is an art museum located in the 7th arrondissement at 59-61, rue de Grenelle, Paris, France. It is open daily except Tuesday; an admission fee is charged....
in his introduction to the exhibition "Séraphine Louis dite Séraphine de Senlis" at the Musée Maillol in Paris which ran from October 1, 2008 to May 18, 2009).
Legacy
Séraphine Louis's paintings are exhibited in the Musée MaillolMusée Maillol
The Musée Maillol is an art museum located in the 7th arrondissement at 59-61, rue de Grenelle, Paris, France. It is open daily except Tuesday; an admission fee is charged....
in Paris, the Musée d'art de Senlis
Senlis, Oise
Senlis is a French commune located in the Oise department near Paris. It has a long and rich heritage, having traversed centuries of history. This medieval town has welcomed some of the most renowned figures in French history, including Hugh Capet, Louis IX, the Marshall of France, Anne of Kiev and...
, the Musée d'art naïf in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, and the Musée d'Art moderne Lille Métropole in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
In 2009, the French biographical film Séraphine
Séraphine (film)
Séraphine is a 2008 French-Belgian film directed by Martin Provost and written by Marc Abdelnour and Provost. It stars Yolande Moreau as the French painter Séraphine Louis and Ulrich Tukur as Wilhelm Uhde. It won the 2009 César Award for Best Film.-Plot:...
by director Martin Provost
Martin Provost
Martin Provost is a French film director, writer and actor. He wrote and directed such films as Séraphine and Le ventre de Juliette.-Filmography:Director:*Cocon *Tortilla y cinema *Le ventre de Juliette...
won seven César Awards
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
, including Best Film and Best Actress for Yolande Moreau
Yolande Moreau
Yolande Moreau is a Belgian comedienne, actress and film director.-Biography:She has won two César Awards for Best Actress, in 2005 for When the Sea Rises and in 2009 for Séraphine....
who starred in the title role. The film explored the relationship between Séraphine and Wilhelm Uhde
Wilhelm Uhde
Wilhelm Uhde was a German art collector, dealer, author and critic, an early collector of modernist painting, and a significant figure in the career of Henri Rousseau.-Biography:...
, from their first encounter in 1912, until the death of Séraphine.
External links
- Musée d'art naïf (M.A.N.) Beraut (near Toulouse) Biography
- The Artists Photographie
- Artnet
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/sets/72157608175279314/ Her work at Musée Maillol