Artful and heartbreaking tale of Seraphine

Seraphine, Martin Provost's poignant and salutary biopic of French painter Seraphine de Senlis, not only sheds light on a visionary artist whose story is little-known but it has also made a star of lead actress Yolande Moreau.
 
Born in 1864, Seraphine de Senlis was a 'modern primitive' painter who went on to produce some of the most acclaimed paintings of the 20th century.

But for many years de Senlis - who was born Seraphine Louis but later took the name of her hometown - created her work in secret while toiling as a cleaning lady. At night she painted her exotic, swirling canvases of fruits, flowers and trees, often using blood from offal and candle wax to boost the small amount of paint she could afford.
 
It is likely that her talents would have remained hidden if William Uhde, a German art critic and an early supporter of Picasso, had not moved from Paris to Senlis and chanced upon her work. Much to the mirth of the local townsfolk, who regarded Seraphine as an eccentric and slightly pathetic figure, Uhde started to buy and champion her work.
 
Provost's multi-award-winning film - it won seven Cesars, including best film, best screenplay, best cinematography and best actress - follows de Senlis for two decades, from 1914.

Her career was interrupted by the outbreak of war, but as peace resumed the artist and her patron are finally reunited and Seraphine finally achieved the recognition and riches that her talents deserved. Seraphine however was ill-equipped to handle fame and financial success and suffered a mental collapse in 1932. She died 10 years later in a psychiatric hospital, aged 78.
 
Belgium-born actress Moreau, 56, has been lauded for her complex portrayal of de Senlis. The Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan hailed Moreau's contribution as a "performance of a lifetime" while AO Scott of the New York Times called it "passionate, humorous and heartbreaking".

Other critics have noted the similarities in the stories of de Senlis and Moreau - a little-known actress prior to this role - to that of the recent singing sensation Susan Boyle.  
 
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:
 
Xan Brooks, the Guardian: "This is a measured, soulful and tactile work; a film with gouache beneath its fingernails... it suggests that ‘outsider art’ may be as much a symptom of disorder as a release from it. In Séraphine's case, it is a private, personal enterprise, fitted in around the day-to-day drudgery and largely played out behind closed doors. Drag the art into the spotlight and the artist combusts." (Verdict: four stars out of five)
 
Wendy Ide, the Times: "Yolande Moreau's instinctive performance in the central role is a revelation." (Verdict: three stars out of five)
 
Ian Nathan, Empire: "Martin Provost breathes new life into the tired tropes of the art biopic and avoids romanticising Séraphine’s achievement. He also solicits a magnificent performance from Moreau, who’s deeply moving as she transforms from being a devout but free spirit who works into the night into a needy prima donna who is paralysed by a confused sense of entitlement and self-worth." (Verdict: four stars out of five)
 
A.O. Scott, NY Times: "A large, slow-moving woman with a wide, fleshy face and small, intense eyes, [Moreau] is graceful and elusive, giving clues to Séraphine’s rich and vivid inner life without spelling out or overdramatising her peculiar and perhaps unknowable state of mind." ·