Seraphine de Senlis 1914 France

16 March - Wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux shoots Gaston Calmette, the editor of Le Figaro because he threatened to publish Caillaux's love letters to her during his previous marriage. (She is later acquitted.)

26 April - French legislative election held.

10 May - French legislative election held.

3 August - Germany declares war on Russia's ally France.

9 August - Battle of Mulhouse begins, the opening attack of World War I by the French army against Germany.

26 August - Allies withdraw from Le Cateau to St. Quentin, after Battle of Le Cateau.

29 August - French Fifth Army attack St. Quentin.

30 August - French Fifth Army retreat from St. Quentin.

25 September - Battle of Albert begins.

27 September - First Battle of Artois begins.

1 October - Battle of Arras begins.

4 October - Lens is lost, as French Tenth Army fails to hold back the Germans.

4 November - Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire.

20 December - First Battle of Champagne begins.

What a sad sad story.






I have just watched the film of her story. How Wilhelm Uhde discovered her work around the same time as he had discovered Rousseau but the first world war meant that Uhde left Senlis and Seraphine. She was in fact his cleaner whilst he rented in Senli to escape his art dealing world in Paris. But being a German in France as the war broke out he had to escape.
He returned to discover Seraphine still alive and her prolific works better than ever.



Uhde then sponsored her but by this time she was seemingly quite deluded, which worsened. She ended up being locked away in a mental asylum. By the time she had her first exhibition in Paris she was locked up and Uhde asked not to disturb her. But he made her life more comfortable presumably with the proceeds from her exhibition.
It was so sad a story. The madness of creativity. Or is it a society that cannot tolerate anything other than the usual.
According to this version of her life story seh was completely deluded though and a danger to herself at one point.
Horrid to think that people are so judgemental and afraid. I am sure I would have been beheaded or something. Certainly locked away and not allowed to be just me.
So many people are less than normal but play along to fit in some how. And all the creativity and uniqueness is stuffed away just as if they have been locked up. So it begs the question just as to who is the saner??
I can see the wonder in her art.  I actually do like it. Some pieces better than others. It's unusual for it's time.  I can't locate a version of the one featured in the black and white photo of her with her painting. But this one is probably the most outstanding.

Ah ha found it - this one I like

Oh apparently she made her red paint with animal blood.

Bliss
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