One common thread with many women artists discussed here is that they were born into well-to-do families and had successful and influential parents, usually professionally educated in the arts or sciences. This is very true of the French artist, Sophie Gengembre Anderson whose father was both an architect and artist. Though she was born in Paris, she lived in France, England, Italy, and extensively in the United States.
It’s Who You Know In Life Sometimes
Born in 1823, she was surrounded by prominent artists, intellectuals and actors during her formative years and developed a passion for art as a young girl. Sophie was largely self-taught but also studied portraiture in Paris. Classified as a Victorian genre artist, she became proficient at portraits, still life, and figurative work that included landscape scenes. She later married the artist, Walter Anderson with whom she often collaborated on various projects. Soon, she was exhibiting at galleries and other prestigious exhibitions including the Royal Academy establishing a name for herself in the art world.
Elaine, The Maid of Astolat by Sophie Gengembre Anderson
The Queen of Capri
Like Rachel Ruysch, Sophie lived a long a productive life working all the while producing sought after genre paintings depicting stories of classical mythology and other scenes. Poor health took both her and her husband to Capri where she established a connection to the residents there and became known as ‘the Queen of Capri.” They relocated once again for a final time to England where Walter died in 1903, and Sophie passed away two months later at age 80.
Financial Independence is a Good Thing
From my research I learned that Sophie had just one child, a daughter, which would of course have been much more manageable than Rachel Ruysch dealing with her large family. This has a huge impact on women and their careers. Understandably, if a woman is monetarily successful, there are funds to help pay for assistance with children like Ruysch was able to do. This makes dancing backwards a little easier, don’t you think? Sophie became financially independent through her success as an artist. Though coverage is copious on the Internet of Sophie, there’s not so much in the history books. Therefore, I am honoring her as a star of Dancing the Waltz Backwards.
Spring Unveiling, Bronze Coast Gallery May 2 -4, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Thank you for keeping me in your artist loop. So interesting!
Hello Joanne, I am so glad you are enjoying the Dancing Backwards stories. It seems like even through the centuries, some things never change. Let’s keep persevering.