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Vidéo of Bouquet de fleurs sur une table from Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938)


Suzanne Valadon in front of her easel, circa 1937 – DR

Suzanne Valadon, whom Edgar Degas affectionately nicknamed “the terrible Maria,” was 72 years old when she painted her Bouquet de fleurs sur une table in 1937, just a few months before her passing.

This is therefore one of her last paintings, but also one of her most ambitious still lifes, both in terms of its size—92 x 73 cm, one of the largest for this genre—and the richness of its composition: a rustic wooden table holding a bouquet of varied flowers arranged in a glass pitcher, itself placed on a vermilion ceramic dish, with a colorful Suzani embroidery in the background. This fabric from Uzbekistan appears regularly in Valadon’s work, whether in her nudes (Nu allongé sur un divan, 1922, private collection, or La Boîte à violon, 1923, Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne), her arrangements of objects (Nature morte, 1920, Paris, Centre National des Arts Plastiques), or her portraits (Les Dames Rivière, 1924, private collection). Beyond the material richness of her pictorial field, the work is particularly remarkable for the stylistic fullness Valadon achieved at the end of her career—her artistic maturity—which combines what Daniel Marchesseau called her “chromatic exuberance,” the certainty of her line, and the bold rising perspective suggested by the tabletop.


Paul Pétridès (1901–1993), Suzanne Valadon in front of her studio, Paris, December 11, 1937 – DR

It is therefore not surprising that Suzanne, in a rare photograph taken in front of her Parisian studio on December 11, 1937, proudly displays this canvas. She so perfectly applied her conception of the relationship between painting and nature, which she described as having “a total hold over [her]—the trees, the sky, the water, and living beings, [all] enchant [her] passionately, deeply,” concluding: “In what I have painted, not a single stroke, not a single line is not grounded in nature” (Suzanne Valadon, La Nature & la Peinture, undated, manuscript letter, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Kandinsky Library).


“La Nature & la Peinture” according to Suzanne Valadon, circa 1920 – DR

Bouquet de fleurs sur une table, formerly in the collection of Madame Maurice Utrillo, - according to the gallerist Paul Pétridès - had until now only been known through the black-and-white photograph published in Paul Pétridès’ L’Œuvre complet de Suzanne Valadon (1971). Its rediscovery, shortly after the recent celebrations of the painter at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, Musée d’Arts de Nantes, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (2023), and Centre Pompidou–Musée National d’Art Moderne (2025), is undoubtedly a major event in the current artistic scene surrounding Suzanne Valadon. It is highly likely that the work will be offered at auction on November 25, 2025, in Neuilly.


Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938)
Bouquet de fleurs sur une table, 1937
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated '1937' at the top right
92 x 73 cm
The Utrillo-Valadon Committee has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Provenance
Collection of Madame Maurice Utrillo and/or Collection of Monsieur and Madame Paul Pétridès, France
Private collection, France (by descent)

Exhibitions
- Exhibition of early and recent works by Suzanne Valadon selected from the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Utrillo and Mr. and Mrs. Pétridès, Paris, Galerie Pétridès, June 7–16, 1938, no. 16
- Tribute to Suzanne Valadon, 1865–1938, Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, May 28–July 11, 1948 (according to Paul Pétridès, 1971, but the work does not appear in the catalogue)

Bibliography
- Exhibition of early and recent works by Suzanne Valadon selected from the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Utrillo and Mr. and Mrs. Pétridès, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Galerie Pétridès, June 7–16, 1938, Paris: Galerie Pétridès, 1938, described and reproduced under no. 16 (titled Fleurs and listed as “Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Pétridès”)
- Paul Pétridès, The Complete Works of Suzanne Valadon, Paris: Compagnie Française des Arts Graphiques, 1971, reproduced under reference P 473 and described on p. 347 (listed as “Former collection of Mrs. Utrillo”)

Upcoming Auction
Impressionist & Modern Art
Tuesday, November 25, 2025

For more information or to include a lot in our upcoming sales, contact:
Pierre-Alban Vinquant
+33 (0)1 47 45 08 20 - vinquant@aguttes.com