The Suzanne Valadon's workshop

Materially, however, there was not much left of their visit to the workshop. Thanks to the redevelopment of the studio-apartment, the soul of this infernal trio has reinvested the premises. To bring this reconstruction to life, the company Kléber Rossillon called on the creator and designer Hubert Le Gall, a scenographer with multiple references (Musée d'Orsay, Musée de l'Orangerie, Jacquemart-André museum...). 

All the basic material having disappeared, Hubert Le Gall has searched out all the pieces presented today in the studio-apartment, as faithful to the letters and writings of the time – a true testimony to a past life – as well as to historical photographs of the place, scrupulously analyzed: 

From the workshop of Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Utrillo and André Utter at 12 rue Cortot, only the slightly modified outer envelope remains authentic. Its successive inhabitants transformed the place throughout the 20th century. Kléber Rossillon’s desire was to recreate the most faithful image possible of this legendary workshop in 1912. 

For this, we had various testimonies without which nothing could have been undertaken. A reconstruction begins with the analysis of documents and the careful search for traces at the scene. The museum’s conservation department had two photographs of the studio in 1912. These valuable testimonies were supplemented by writings and especially by the study of the works of Suzanne Valadon, who incorporated decorative elements. 

By cross-referencing between the dates of Suzanne Valadon’s works and the photographs, we were able to draw up a fairly precise list of the furniture. Once it was established, it was necessary to look for similar furniture, a difficult task that proved easier than expected as the furniture was typical of this era. The most delicate task was certainly to find textiles characteristic of this period still in good condition and in the spirit of Suzanne Valadon’s taste. 

In parallel with this search for objects, the premises were redesigned to reclaim the initial volumes and circulation of each room through the updating of traces of color and wallpaper on the walls. In the space of six months, the reconstruction took shape, the stove returned to its place, the mezzanine of the workshop was recreated and Utrillo’s room found its panelling and wire mesh at the window. The writings of art critic Adolphe Tabarant give us details about the toys of Utrillo, then 37 years old. 

If everything is reconstructed, the image of the studio remains nonetheless a true testimony, because the atmosphere of these apartments allows the visitor to understand and feel the atmosphere specific to these workshops of the early twentieth century.”