Marie Bracquemond: A French Impressionist

Marie Bracquemond - On the Terrace at Sèvres - 1880 - Oil on canvas - Musée du Petit Palais, GenevaMarie Bracquemond (1841-1916) was the wife of a well regarded etcher and lithographer, Félix Bracquemond. Marie was something of a recluse, and many of her finest works, such as On the Terrace at Sèvres, featured here, were painted in her own garden. Despite her shyness, Maria was a vocal as well as an enthusiastic supporter of Impressionist doctrines. However, she did not handle criticism of her own art well and therefore often refrained from showing it to anyone. Nevertheless, Marie’s work was included in the Impressionist exhibitions of 1879, 1880 and 1886. Both her husband and her son, Pierre, were somewhat jealous of her achievements--although her son was one of her staunchest supporters.