Sraphine De Senlis

Diagnoses

Vocation

Notable

French painter in the naïve style. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith. Alongside her arduous day jobs as a housekeeper for middle class families, Séraphine painted by candlelight, largely in secret isolation. Her considerable body of work was discovered in 1912 by German art collector Wilhelm Uhde. Séraphine's works are predominantly rich fantasies of intensely repeated and embellished floral arrangements. She used colors and pigments that she made herself from unusual and exotic ingredients she never revealed but have stood the test of time for durable vividness. In 1932, Séraphine was admitted for chronic psychosis at Clermont's lunatic asylum, where her artistry found no outlet. Although Uhde reported that she had died in 1934, some say that Séraphine actually lived until 1942 in a hospital annex at Villers-sous-Erquery, where she died friendless and alone. She was buried in a common grave. Séraphine Louis's paintings are exhibited in the Musée Maillol in Paris, the Musée d'art de Senlis, the Musée d'art naïf in Nice, and the Musée d'Art moderne Lille Métropole in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In 2009, the French biographical film Séraphine by director Martin Provost won seven César Awards, including Best Film and Best Actress for Yolande Moreau who starred in the title role. The film explored the relationship between Séraphine and Wilhelm Uhde, from their first encounter in 1912, until the death of Séraphine Link to Wikipedia biography