Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938), Grandmere et Enfant, drypoint, 1908, signed in pencil lower right margin [also signed and dated 1908 in the plate]; printed after 1908. Reference: Petrides 14. On BFK Rives paper (cream wove), with their watermark. In good condition, with very wide margins (some staining in the margins, not affecting image), 9 x 8 1/4, the sheet 18 3/8 x 14 1/2 inches.

A fine, fresh impression, with much plate tone, and substantial drypoint burr.

At the time this etching was made, Suzanne Valadon was about 43.  A favorite character among Picasso (at this time engaged in the development of cubism) and his crowd at the Lapin-Agile in Paris, she had just left her husband and began living with a much younger man; this was a period of heightened creativity and happiness for Valadon (marred only by her concerns about her wayward son, the painter Maurice Utrillo).

Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938), Catherine Prepare le Tub et Lois Nue se Coiiffre, 1895, drypoint and etching with plate tone, signed in pencil lower right [also signed and dated in the plate, in reverse]. Reference: Petrides E 7. From an edition of unstated size, probably printed well after its creation. In very good condition with full margins (some spots of mat stain (?) in the margin outside of the platemark, stains from prior hinging margin edges), printed on BFK Rives cream wove paper, the full sheet, 8 7/8 x 8 7/8, the sheet 18 3/8 x 14 1/2 inches, archival mounting (2750).

A fine fresh atmospheric impression, printed with plate tone and a smattering of acid or phosphorous.

Shortly before this early drypoint was made, in 1893, Valadon, at the suggestion of Toulouse Lautrec succeeded in meeting and impressing Degas. It is said that Degas took one look at her drawings of little Maurice (her son, later to become well-known as the artist Maurice Utrillo) and said, “you are one of us!” He then bought 17 of these drawings and hung them among his Cézannes, Gauguins and Van Goghs.

$2750