1911 (ca.), Maurice Utrillo, Street in Sannois -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label:
Utrillo's mother, Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938), taught him to paint as a form of occupational therapy when he developed a severe form of alcoholism during his adolescence. Valadon received no formal training herself but learned techniques through observation while posing for artists including Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Despite his frequent relapses with alcohol addiction, Utrillo proved to be a committed and prolific painter of cityscapes.
He first achieved commercial success and critical recognition with the "white period" paintings he made between 1909 and 1914. During this phase of his career, Utrillo began mixing zinc white paint with unorthodox materials such as plaster, cement, and glue to create varied textured and nuanced tints. Street in Sannois is exemplary of the confluence between the impressionistic rendering of pedestrians and shrubbery, precise draftsmanship of streets and buildings, and concern for geometric harmony that characterize Utrillo's cityscapes.
1911 (ca.), Maurice Utrillo, Street in Sannois -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label:
Utrillo's mother, Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938), taught him to paint as a form of occupational therapy when he developed a severe form of alcoholism during his adolescence. Valadon received no formal training herself but learned techniques through observation while posing for artists including Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Despite his frequent relapses with alcohol addiction, Utrillo proved to be a committed and prolific painter of cityscapes.
He first achieved commercial success and critical recognition with the "white period" paintings he made between 1909 and 1914. During this phase of his career, Utrillo began mixing zinc white paint with unorthodox materials such as plaster, cement, and glue to create varied textured and nuanced tints. Street in Sannois is exemplary of the confluence between the impressionistic rendering of pedestrians and shrubbery, precise draftsmanship of streets and buildings, and concern for geometric harmony that characterize Utrillo's cityscapes.