Jacqueline Marval | The Female Fauve

Jacqueline Marval was the pseudonym for Marie Josephine Vallet (1866-1932), who was a French painter, lithographer and sculptor.

Vallet was born in Quaix-en-Chartreuse into a family of school teachers.

She was married in 1866, to a traveling salesperson, Albert Valentin, but separated from her husband in 1891 after the death of her son.

She moved to Grenoble and worked as a seamstress sewing waistcoats before moving to Paris in 1900.

In 1900 Vallet took on the pseudonym Jacqueline Marval, "Marval" being the composite of her first and last name "MARie VALlet".

Career as an artist

In 1894, Marval met the painter François Joseph Girot and began living with him in Paris, where she was introduced to Les Nabis group.

Girot introduced her to Jules Flandrin, another painter and a student of Gustave Moreau.

The two fell in love, and Marval left Girot to move in with Flandrin in Rue Campagne-Première, in the Montparnasse area.

She would live with him as his companion for 20 years.

As an artist, Marval worked primarily as a painter; however, she also made "lithographs, watercolours, pastels, engravings, tapestry designs and experimented with sculpture".

Vallet's first works were rejected from the 1900 Salon des Indépendants, but she succeeded in having a dozen paintings shown in that exhibition the following year, in 1901.

The works rejected in 1900 were bought by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who continued to support her work.

Between 1901 and 1905, Marval worked frequently alongside Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet and Flandrin, and the four influenced each other.

In 1902, several of her paintings were displayed alongside works by Flandrin, Albert Marquet, and Henri Matisse in a gallery in Rue Victor-Massé curated by Berthe Weill, who was particularly interested in promoting the works of female artists living in Paris.

Marval also exhibited in the first Salon d'Automne, in 1902, where she showed her large scale painting The Odalisques.

In 1913, Marval was chosen by a jury made up of Gabriel Astruc, the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, and the painters Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard to decorate the foyer of the new Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

She created a series of twelve paintings on the theme of Daphnis and Chloe.

The series was based on the Ballets Russes' production of Daphnis et Chloë , performed the year prior.

Also in 1913, Marval protested against the removal from the Salon d'Automne of Kees van Dongen's The Spanish Shawl, and became friends with Van Dongen, setting up her studio near his.

Marval and Flandrin moved into 40 rue Denfert Rochereau, which was next door to Van Dongen in 1914.

She attended his famous costumed ball in 1914.

Marval's works began to be recognized across Europe and beyond; she exhibited in Barcelona, Liège, Venice, Zurich, Budapest and Kyoto.

Beginning in 1923, Marval was active in favor of the creation of modern art museums in Paris and Grenoble.

Towards the end of her life she fell into poverty.

Marval died of cancer at the Hôpital Bichât in Paris in 1932.

After her death, her works were held in the Galerie Druet before it was closed in 1938 and they were sold.

Her painting Portrait of Dolly Davis, 1925 is in the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. | Source: © Wikipedia

Jacqueline Marval, pseudonimo di Marie-Joséphine Vallet (1866-1932) è stata una pittrice Francese, esponente della corrente artistica del Fauvismo.

Marie-Joséphine Vallet nacque a Quaix-en-Chartreuse, vicino Grenoble, nel 1866, in una famiglia di insegnanti.

Ella seguì senza essere convinta degli studi che la destinavano all'insegnamento e poi si sposò con un venditore ambulante, Albert Valentin, fino alla separazione avvenuta dopo la morte del primo figlio nel 1891.

Questo fu un evento che costituì il punto di svolta della sua esistenza.

Essendosi ritrovata sola, si guadagnò da vivere facendo la sarta.

Nel 1894, Marie-Joséphine incontrò il pittore François-Joseph Girot e si recò con lui a Parigi nel 1895-1896 circa, dove conobbe il gruppo dei Nabis.

Girot le fece conoscere il pittore Jules Flandrin, uno studente di Gustave Moreau alla scuola di belle arti parigina, che a sua volta la presentò ad altri artisti, come Pierre-Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse, Henri Manguin e Georges Rouault.

I due si innamorarono e Vallet lasciò Girot per trasferirsi assieme a Flandrin al numero 9 della rue Campagne-Première, nel cuore di un focolaio di artisti nel quartiere di Montparnasse.

Ella avrebbe vissuto con lui come sua compagna per venti anni.

Dopo un'attività come sarta decise di concentrarsi sulla pittura poco prima della fine del secolo.