Not going to lie, I wanted a bit more gossip (lol)! BUT, I did enjoy this book. Took me a little longer to finish it as there was a lot (albeit interesting) of information to consume. Honestly, didn't know what to expect but learning about Suzanne Valadon's life and work was really refreshing!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book which means I will not be able to review it. I truly appreciate the opportunity and apologize for the inconvenience the lack of review may cause you.

Suzanne Valadon, the name by which she is best known, spent almost all of her long-life in Montmartre. The illegitimate daughter of a French peasant women, she moved with her mother and half-sister to Paris as a child and was raised on the streets. Discovering drawing changed her life.

She became an important model for many of the Impressionists and was a part of their circle. Still drawing though, she was introduced to Degas who became her teacher.

Her life was tumultuous and bohemian in the extreme. She had an illegitimate son, who became a painter as well. As time went on she became well regarded and widely exhibited.

This biography is detailed and rich while still being very readable.. I really loved that Hewitt took the time to give us background on so many things that had an impact on the story from the history of the Montmartre cafes to the background of the many artistic societies in Paris.

It's a wonderful biography of someone who should be better known,

This is a super fascinating biography regarding the subjest of one of my favorite paintings. Highly recommend if you are interested in art/history.

Suzanne was once called 'the terror of Montmartre'. The pretty golden-haired child of a single mother climbed out of Windows, played truant from school and associated with vagabonds. After joining the circus, however, she suffered a terrible accident and focused on her drawing. Once she became an artist's model for illustrious artists, such as Renoir, she was on the road to success.

She became respectable married woman, the mistress of a large house with her own studio and servants. But she had trouble with her son's inclination to drink. Would she give it all up for a handsome and much younger man...?

This is a fascinating tale about the wild-child of Montmartre and her talented son with vivid
descriptions of the bohemian lives of the famous artists of the late 19th century. I felt that I had a birds-eye view to the charm and glamour of the Paris of the time. Suzanne Valadon has been neglected so this biography is a welcome addition to books about these artists.

I received this free ebook from Net Galleyin return for an honest review.

nyone who has seen Renoir's paintings of dancers may not be able to resist this biography of one of these graceful women, Suzanne Valadon. A friend to many of the Impressionist painters, this strong woman was a painter in her own right and an interesting character in Impressionist art history.

What a wonderful book about someone that knows anything about. My parents, when I was young, got me interested in the Impressionist period of painting. This story brings this period of time to life and gives us an inside look at one woman who changed the way you look at painting.

Thanks St. Martin's Press and netgalley for this ARC.

This bio takes you back in time in that titillating, thilling, and magical way only a special author has the power to bestow.

Catherine Hewitt's Renoir's Dancer expertly examines the life and influence of Marie-Clémentine Valadon, later known as Suzanne Valadon. I admit that the narrative is slow sometimes, but this did not really deter my interest in the book. Before reading Hewitt's work, I no idea of the full life that Valadon lived mixing and mingling with some of the greatest artists of her time, first as a model, and later as an accepted artist in her own right. Hewitt narrative brings to life Valadon in ways I could not have expected when I first requested this work, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the time period, art, Paris, and/or the life of a woman that lived outside of the confines of society's expectations of a woman. Simply a brilliant work through which I learned an immense amount of information about a woman I hope to study in more depth in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

In the fall of 2017, I audited a class on 19th century European painting which was largely a class about French artists. I also recently saw a wonderful exhibit on Renoir at the Phillips Collection in DC. So, you can imagine how eagerly I looked forward to reading this biography. Renoir's Dancer absolutely did not disappoint. Renoir's Dancer was Suzanne Valadon, a fascinating woman who was an artist's model and artist in her own right. She was a woman who reinvented herself and evolved from Marie-Clementine to Maria to eventually Suzanne.
The author's writing style is fluid and engaging and the pages kept turning. The book starts with the lives of Suzanne's parents which were fascinating in themselves. Suzanne's early experiences and temperament set the stage for the young adult and adult she would become. While reading Renoir's Dancer, I revisited or learned even more about French history and artists. Such a pleasure to spend time in their company. If you read only one biography this year, make it this one!

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains." (Pierre-Auguste Renoir)

And sometimes that pain leaves scars unseen with the human eye. Scars kept hidden in the deep folds of life known only by the one who bears their weight.

Catherine Hewitt presents a fascinating glimpse into the life of Suzanne Valadon, artists' model and an eventual artist herself during the gentle and calming wave of the Impressionists movement that revolutionized the art world in France and far beyond.

Hewitt begins her story in 1849 with Madeleine Valadon, a humble linen maid, living with the cattle-dotted pastures of the Bessines countryside. Rituals and folklore surround its inhabitants and these tainted beliefs cause young women to make faulty decisions. Desperate for the eye of an eligible man, Madeleine marries the shift blacksmith, Leger Couland, who is thirteen years her senior. Heartbreak is now chiseled into the steel of her existence. After Leger's death, Madeleine takes her young daughter, Marie-Alix, to the winding streets of Paris searching for a better life.

In time, Madeleine falls, once again, into a sea of carelessness. The widow gives birth to another daughter in 1865. Marie-Clementine (later to be known as Suzanne) has been blessed with flashing blue eyes and fairness of face. Any resemblance to a Christmas angel limits itself as Marie takes to the Paris streets with abandon in her youth. Suzanne with that same youth and lithe agility discovers a talent as a horseback performer in the circus and is quite in demand.

But Hewitt brings the spotlight of her story shifting with the focus on the life of Suzanne Valadon with Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Toulouse Lautrec drifting in and out along the outer perimeter. Valadon visits the cafes and coffee houses of Paris where she is wrapped in the presence of artists, writers, and musicians. Initially, Valadon is embraced for her modeling presence. But a breakthrough arrives as she dabbles in charcoal drawings and later watercolors and oils of her own creation.

Renoir's Dancer reads like fiction, but it is filled with pockets of discoveries within the artists' dens of the time period. Although not as well known as Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, Valadon does what she does best........breaking ground for women and leaving quite the footprints behind.

I received a copy of Renoir's Dancer through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Catherine Hewitt for the opportunity.

An excellent biography of Suzanne Valadon, famous for being a model for impressionists but also an artist in her own right. This was a great tale about a woman who refused to cow to gender and traditional stereotypes.