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Revision as of 02:03, 5 July 2005 by Etacar11 (talk | contribs) (+cat, noted weblink in French)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Louise Abbema (30 October, 1858 – 1927) was a French impressionist painter and designer, born in Etampes.
Abbema began painting in her early teens, and studied under such notables of the period as Charles Chaplin, Jean-Jacques Henner and Carlus-Duran. She first received recognition for her work at 18 when she painted a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, her life-long friend, and many believe, her lover.
She went on to paint portraits of other contemporary notables, and also painted panels and murals which adorned the Paris Town Hall, the Paris Opera House, numerous theatres including the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, and the Palace of the Colonial Governor at Dakar, Senegal. She was a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon, where she received an honorable mention for her panels in 1881. Abbema was also among the female artists whose works were exhibited in the Women's Building at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. A bust Sarah Bernhardt sculpted of Abbema was also exhibited at the exposition.
Abbema specialized in oil portraits and watercolors, and many of her works showed the influence from Chinese (Chinoiserie) and Japanese (Japonism) painters, as well as contemporary masters such as Édouard Manet.
She frequently depicted flowers in her works. Among her best known are The Seasons, April Morning, Among the Flowers, Winter, and portraits of Emperor Don Pedro of Brazil, Ferdinand de Lesseps, and Charles Garnier.
Abbema was also an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, and designer, as well as a writer who made regular contributions to the journals Gazette des Beaux-Arts and L'Art.
Among the many honors conferred upon Abbema was nomination as official painter of the Third Republic. She was also awarded a bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle and in 1906 was inducted into the Légion d'Honneur.
At the end of the 20th century, as contributions by women to the arts in past centuries receives more critical and historical attention, her works are enjoying a renewed popularity.
External links
- Extensive web page with many Abbema artworks (in French)
- Artcyclopedia listing
- Short biography at Tallulahs.com
- Short biography at Nelepets.com