Marguerite Gérard

Marguerite Gérard
Marguerite Gérard, by François Dumont
Born	(1761-01-28)28 January 1761 Grasse, France
Died	18 May 1837(1837-05-18) (aged 76) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Known for	painting, etching
Style	Genre art

Marguerite Gérard (28 January 1761 in Grasse – 18 May 1837 in Paris) was a French painter and etcher. She was the daughter of Marie Gilette and perfumer Claude Gérard. At 8 years old she became the sister-in-law of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and when she was 14, she came to live with him. She was also the aunt of the artist Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard. Gérard became Fragonard's pupil in the mid-1770s and studied painting, drawing and printmaking under his tutelage. She appears to have executed five etchings in 1778 in collaboration with the master.

Upon the death of her mother in 1775, Marguerite Gérard took up residence in the Louvre with her sister and her sister's husband Jean-Honoré Fragonard. She lived in the Louvre for approximately thirty years, allowing her to view and be inspired by great artworks of the past and present. Of particular interest to Gérard were the genre scenes of the Dutch Golden Age which she would emulate in her own work. She was offered a spot at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture but turned it down. Her association with Fragonard's circle allowed Gérard the freedom to remain unmarried without becoming a financial burden to herself or her parents; this allowed her to devote herself to art. Speculation that Gérard and Fragonard were lovers has been thoroughly disproved, and Gérard referred to the older artist as a father figure.

Marguerite Gérard began her work as an artist in the 1770s while living in Paris. Her earliest compositions are etchings and engravings, while her later and more renowned works are oil paintings. Her artwork depicts scenes in everyday life, a style known as genre painting. Her works were exhibited in the Paris Salon beginning in the 1790s and garnered the attention of wealthy patrons.

Gérard became interested in art while living with her sister, Marie-Anne Fragonard, and brother-in-law, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, in Paris. She became an unofficial apprentice of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, working in collaboration with him to create her first pieces of work. Gérard started her career by etching and engraving copies of Fragonard's paintings; soon after, she began to create her own genre paintings. The depiction of everyday life in the artwork closely resembles the style of Gerard Ter Borch and Gabriel Metsu, Dutch artists from the seventeenth century. Much like these Dutch artists, Gérard painted meticulous details using finely blended brushstrokes.