Feminist commentary As one of the best documented French artists of the early twentieth century, Valadon's body of work has been of great interest to feminist art historians, especially given her focus on the female form. Her work was candid and occasionally awkward, often characterized by strong lines, and her resistance to both academic and avant-garde conventions for representing the female nude have encouraged interest in her work: It has been argued that many of her images of women signal a form of resistance to some of the dominant representations of female sexuality in early twentieth-century Western art. Many of her nudes painted from the 1910s onward are heavily proportioned and sometimes awkwardly posed. The feminist critics assert that they are conspicuously at odds with the svelte, 'feminine' type to be found in the imagery of both popular and 'high' art. Her self-portrait from 1931, when she was 66, stands out as one of the early examples of a woman painter recording her own physical decline.
Feminist commentary As one of the best documented French artists of the early twentieth century Valadon's body of work has been of great interest to feminist art historians especially given her focus on the female form Her work was can,did and occasionally awkward often characterized by strong lines and her resistance to both academic and avant-garde conventions for representing the female nude have encouraged int!erest in her work It has been argued that many of her images of women signal a form of resistance to some of the dominant representations of female sexuali!ty in early twentieth-century Western art Many of her nudes painted from the 1910s onward are heavily proportioned and sometimes awkwardly posed The feminist critics assert that they are conspicuously at odds with the svelte 'feminine' type to be found in the imagery of both popular and 'high' art Her self-portrait from 1931 when she was 66 stands out as one of the early examples of a woman painter recording her own physical decline