Séraphine

The story of Séraphine Louis (aka Séraphine de Senlis), a simple and profoundly devout housekeeper who, in 1905, at age 41, self-taught and with the instigation of her guardian angel, began painting brilliantly colorful canvases. In 1912, Wilhelm Uhde, a German art critic and collector (one of the first collectors of Picasso and champion of naïve primitive painter Le Douanier Rousseau), discovered her paintings while she worked for him as a maid in Senlis. A moving and unexpected relationship developed between the avant-garde art dealer and the visionary cleaning lady, leading to Séraphine’s work being grouped with other naïve painters – the so-called “Sacred Heart Painters” - with acclaimed shows in France, elsewhere in Europe and eventually at New York’s MOMA .

The portrait of this now largely-forgotten painter is a testament to the mysteries of creativity and the resilience of one woman’s spirit.