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."