Valadon, Suzanne, 1867-1938, French painter. After abandoning successful careers as an acrobat and as artist's model to many of the major impressionists, Valadon, encouraged by Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, became a painter. Her fresh, intensely personal works, including landscapes, nudes, and portraits, are executed in vibrant colors with heavy black outlines. Valadon was the mother of the painter Maurice Utrillo.