Portrait of Erik Satie

French artist Suzanne Valadon painted this portrait of composer Erik Satie around 1892-1893, reportedly her first attempt at portraiture in oil. The small canvas measures just 22 by 41 centimeters. Satie's red lips are partly hidden by his waxed moustache, and pince-nez glasses give him an intellectual air. One critic described the painting as showing "a methodical frankness close to brutality."

Valadon and Satie met on January 14, 1893, at the Auberge du Clou nightclub. Within minutes he was in love, and within hours he proposed. They began a torrid six-month affair, living in adjoining apartments where he wrote music while she painted his portrait. It was reportedly her first oil painting.

Satie obsessed over Valadon for the rest of his life, writing her letters for thirty years. The painting now hangs at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Valadon is thought to be the only person Satie ever had a romantic relationship with.