This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Freethinker1of1 (talk | contribs) at 21:32, 24 September 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:32, 24 September 2004 by Freethinker1of1 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Louise Abbema was a French Impressionist painter and designer, born in Etampes on 30 October, 1858. She began painting in her early teens, studying under such notables of the period as Charles Chaplin, Jean-Jacques Henner and Carlus-Duran, and first received recognition for her work at eighteen when she painted a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, who was a life-long friend and, many believe, her lover. Mme. Abbema 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 had sculpted of Abbema was also exhibited there.
Abbema specialized in oil portraits and watercolors, and in many of her works showed a heavy influence from Chinese and Japanese painters, as well as contemporary masters such as Manet. Flowers were a frequent motif 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. She was also an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, and designer, as well as a writer, making regular contributions to the journals Gazette des Beaux-Arts and L'Art.
Among the many honors conferred upon Louise 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. She died in Paris in 1927. As the contributions by women to the arts in past centuries receive more critical and historical attention, her works are enjoying a renewed popularity.