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A Game of Croquet, by Louise Abbema, c. 1872

Louise Abbema (1858 - 1927)

French painter and designer, born in Etampes.  She began painting in her early teens, studying under Chapin, Henner and Carolus-Duran, and first received recognition for her work at eighteen when she painted a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, who was her lover for a time and a life-long friend.  Also an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, and designer, she 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.  Mme. Abbema went on to paint portraits of other contemporary notables, and also painted panels which adorned the Paris Town Hall, the Opera House, numerous theatres, and even the Palace of the Colonial Governor at Dakar, Senegal.  Among her best known works are The Seasons, April Morning, Among the Flowers, Winter, and portraits of Don Pedro-Emperor of Brazil, of Ferdinand de Lesseps, and Charle Garnier.  She was nominated as official painter of the Third Republic and awarded the Legion of Honor in 1906. She died in Paris.  As the contributions by women to the arts in past centuries receive more critical and historical attention, her works are enjoying a renewed popularity.

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