This is the moving true story of a simple housemaid who painted to appease the voice of heaven.
In 1913, German art collector Wilhelm Uhde, the first Picasso buyer and discoverer of acclaimed naïve primitive painter Le Douanier Rousseau, rents a modest apartment in Senlis in order to leave behind the excesses of his Parisian life and concentrate on his writing. Once settled, he hires a cleaning lady, the 48 year old Séraphine de Senlis, a quiet and retiring woman with little regard for life beyond her means. But while visiting the home of a prominent local family, Uhde notices a small painting on wood and is surprised to discover that it was created by the unassuming Séraphine.
A poignant and unexpected relationship then develops between the avant-garde art dealer and the visionary cleaning lady.
Yolande Moreau delivers a multi-award winning performance as Séraphine de Senlis, a simple housekeeper whose brilliantly colourful canvases, to this day, adorn some of the most famous galleries in the world. Director Martin Provost’s fictionalised and tragic portrait of this forgotten painter is a moving and compelling testament to creativity and the resilience of one woman’s unique vision and spirit.
