Paris 1768-1826 was a French neoclassical, historical and genre painter. She was born in Paris, the daughter of a civil servant. Her training as an artist began in 1781 under Élisabeth Vigee Le Brun, and she entered Jacques-Louis David's atelier in 1786 along with her sister Marie-Élisabeth Laville-Leroux. The poet Charles-Albert Demoustier, who met her in 1784, was inspired by her in creating the character Émile in his work Lettres Émilie sur la mythologie (1801). In 1791 she exhibited for the first time in the Salon de Paris, displaying her mythology-inspired picture Psych faisant ses adieux sa famille. Another of her paintings of this period, L'Innocence entre la vertu et le vice, is similarly mythological and reveals her feminist interests in this picture, vice is represented by a man, although it was traditionally represented by a woman. In 1793, she married the lawyer Pierre-Vincent Benoist. Her work, reflecting the influence of Jacques-Louis David, tended increasingly toward history painting by 1795. In 1800, she exhibited Portrait d'une negresse in the Salon. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights. This picture was acquired by Louis XVIII for France in 1818. An important commission, for a full-length portrait of Napol on Bonaparte Premier Consul Français in this period was awarded to her in 1803. This portrait was to be sent to the city of Ghent, newly ceded to France by the Treaty of Luneville in 1801. Other honors came to her; she was awarded a Gold Medal in the Salon of 1804, and received a governmental allowance. During this time she opened an atelier for the artistic training of women. Her career was harmed by political developments, however, when her husband, the convinced royalist count Benoist, was nominated in the Conseil d'État during the post-1814 monarchy come-back called the Bourbon Restoration.   Related Paintings of Marie-Guillemine Benoist :. | Portrait of Pauline Bonaparte | Portrait of a Negress | Portrait of a black woman | L'innocenza tra il vizio e la virtu, | Portrait of Pauline Bonaparte |
Related Artists:
Jan Gossaert Mabuse
1478-1534 Flemish Jan Gossaert Mabuse Galleries
Giovanni Boldini
1842-1931 Italian Giovanni Boldini Locations Italian painter and printmaker. He received his earliest training from his father, the painter Antonio Boldini (1799-1872). From 1858 he may have attended courses given by Girolamo Domenichini (1813-91) and Giovanni Pagliarini (?1809-78) at the Civico Ateneo di Palazzo dei Diamanti, where he assiduously copied Old Masters. At 18 he was already known in Ferrara as an accomplished portrait painter. In 1862 he went to Florence, where he sporadically attended the Scuola del Nudo at the Accademia di Belle Arti. He frequented the Caffe Michelangiolo, a meeting-place of progressive artists, where he came into contact with the MACCHIAIOLI group of artists.
Mather Brown
American Painter, 1761-1831 was a portrait and historical painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts but active in England. Brown was the son of Gawen and Elizabeth (Byles) Brown, and descended from the Rev. Increase Mather on his mother's side. He was taught by his aunt and around 1773 (age 12) became a pupil of Gilbert Stuart. He arrived in London in 1781 to further his training in Benjamin West's studio, entered the Royal Academy schools in 1782 with plans to be a miniature painter, and began to exhibit a year later. In 1784 he painted two religious paintings for the church of St Mary??s-in-the-Strand, which led Brown to found a partnership with the painter Daniel Orme for the commercialization of these and other works through exhibition and the sale of engravings. Among these were large paintings of scenes from English history, as well as scenes from Shakespeare's plays. However, despite their success he began to concentrate on portraiture. His first successes were with American sitters, among others his patron John Adams and family in 1784?C85; this painting is now in the Boston Athenaeum. In 1785?C86 he painted the first portrait of Thomas Jefferson, who was visiting London. He also painted Sir William Pepperrell. His 1788 full-length portrait of Prince Frederick Augustus in the uniform of Colonel of the Coldstream Guards led to appointment as History and Portrait Painter to the Prince, later the Duke of York and Albany. Other paintings include the Prince of Wales, later George IV (about 1789), Queen Charlotte, and Cornwallis. A self-portrait now belongs to the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. A falling off of patronage in the mid-1790s, and failure to be elected to the Royal Academy, led Brown to leave London in 1808 for Bath, Bristol, and Liverpool.