Suzanne VALADON unveils the colors of her palette.

Suzanne VALADON (1865.1938)

Autographed letter signed to the art critic Adolphe Tabassant. 

One and a half pages in-8° on a bifolium with frayed edges.

Sl, Monday, February 15, 1926.

Crossings, additions and corrections. Whimsical spelling. Beautiful signature.

" Colors that Utrillo and I used (...) Blue, chrome yellow, vermilion, dark madder lake, zinc white"

A very beautiful letter from the painter Suzanne Valadon to a critic and friend, in which she gives details of the colors prepared and used by her and her son Maurice Utrillo for their paintings.

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"My dear Tabarant, As I did not meet you as I had hoped on Saturday at Berneihm's [sic], I leave you with the description of the colors that Utrillo and I used at that time; colors that we made ourselves and which were blue, chrome yellow, vermilion, dark madder lake, zinc white (always). There you have it, my dear Tabarant; with the pleasure of having you soon at lunch with us, please accept from the three of us—Utrillo, Utter, and myself—our good and old friendship. Suzanne Valadon."

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André Utter (1886-1948), a French painter, was Suzanne Valadon's second husband. Initially a friend of Utrillo, he met Valadon, became her model, and married her despite their twenty-year age difference. As for the younger Bernheim, he had been her art dealer since 1924.

Tabarant (1863-1950), a loyal friend of the Valadon-Utrillo family, tirelessly wrote about and promoted their talents. In 1926, he published a voluminous monograph dedicated to Utrillo.

He delivered a moving speech at the funeral of Suzanne Valadon, his "dearest friend", in front of the Saint-Pierre church in Montmartre, in April 1938.