This humid greenhouse painting was made by Marie Braquemond (1841-1916), a genuine French Impressionist, circa 1880. The collection of potted plants was likely her own, perhaps painted at her home in Sevres. Her father was a Breton sea captain, but after her parents divorced and her mother remarried, Marie's childhood was spent in several places, including Switzerland.
Marie Braquemond showed her work at the Impressionist Salons in the late 1870s and the 1880s, and she participated in the Universal Exposition of 1878. Among her admirers were the influential critic Philippe Burty and Paul Gauguin. Unfortunately, as much cannot be said for her husband, Felix Braquemond. The two met while Marie was sketching at the Louvre and, after they married, the couple worked together on china designs for the Haviland firm. As often happened, the woman's contribution to their joint projects has been obscured. Felix Braquemond was jealous of his wife's superior talent and, after years of discouragement at home, Marie Braquemond gave up painting around 1890.
6 comments:
Oh, that last line just makes me so sad.
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing knowledge on this wonderful blog. I have my breakfast cup of tea whilst reading about all the wonderful artists and their artwork. If the computer is down for some reason, I feel quite bereft!
Gave up? Now this is the saddest things I have heard lately. Thank you for bringing her to our attention.
The works of Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Eva Gonzales, and Marie Braquemond are often featured together for the sake of simplicity but each deserves individual consideration. The fineness of Braquemond's work makes me want to see more. I saved this image from a book about two years ago and, carelessly, forgot to record all the details. I do recall that it is in a private collection in France. My apologies for the omission.
I'm not so sure about the received view that Félix Bracquemond discouraged Marie; it derives from a memoir by their son, as does the idea that Félix was antagonistic to Impressionism. But Félix exhibited with the Impressionists, and was on friendly terms with them. His beautiful 1876 etching in the Impressionist style Terrasse de la villa Brancas à Sèvres shows Marie painting her sister. There's a sense of two artists working happily together on equal terms in front of the same motif, rather than of rivalry.
Neil, I'll look for the image "Terrasse de la ville Brancas a Sevres". I've only read secondary sources about Marie Braquemond. However, she gave up her work and he did not. Apparently,the cumulative effects of marriage weighed more heavily on Marie than on Felix. By the time Marie gave up painting, the honeymoon was definitely long over.
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