Background
Marie-Guillemine Benoist (born Marie-Guillemine de Laville-Leroux) was born on December 18, 1768 in Paris, France. The daughter of a politician and a housewife with an aristocratic lineage.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist (born Marie-Guillemine de Laville-Leroux) was born on December 18, 1768 in Paris, France. The daughter of a politician and a housewife with an aristocratic lineage.
Her training as an artist began in 1781 under Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. In 1783, at the age of 15, she applied to the Royal Academy, but her application was rejected.
Marie-Guillemine entered Jacques-Louis David's atelier in 1786 along with her sister Marie-Élisabeth Laville-Leroux.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist worked in the studio of Jacques-Louis David in 1786.
In 1791 she exhibited for the first time in the Salon de Paris, displaying her mythology-inspired picture "Psyché faisant ses adieux à sa famille". Another of her paintings of this period "L'Innocence entre la vertu et le vice" was similarly mythological and revealed her feminist interests - in this picture, vice was represented by a man, although it was traditionally represented by a woman.
Her work, reflecting the influence of Jacques-Louis David, tended increasingly toward history painting by 1795. In 1800, she exhibited "Portrait d'une négresse" in the Salon. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights.
Her reputation as a portrait painter brought her commissions from Napoleon and his family: in 1803 the portrait of the emperor Napoleon for the town of Ghent; in 1805 that of Marshal Brune for the Tuileries; in 1807 that of Pauline Bonaparte. She also executed the portraits of Marie-Elise, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and the empress Marie-Louise. During that time she also opened an atelier for the artistic training of women.
Benoist also attempted genre scenes, for example the "Bible Reading" (exhibited on the Salon 1810; Louviers, Musée Municipal) and "The Fortune-teller" (1812; Saintes, Musée des Beaux-Arts).
The Monarchy was restored in 1815, and her husband Pierre-Vincent Benoist’s career boomed. Despite being at the height of her popularity, Marie-Guillemine had to retire from her career not to overshadow her husband’s career.
She died on October 8, 1826 in Paris, France.
Portrait of Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
unknown title
Il sonno dell'infanzia e della vecchiaia
Portrait of a Lady
Portrait d'une négresse
Guillaume Marie-Anne, comte de Brune, maréchal de France (1763-1815)
Portrait of Pauline Bonaparte
Self-Portrait
Empress Marie-Louise
Portrait of Baron Larrey
Madame Jeanne Desbassayns de Richemont And Her Son, Eugène
Portrait of Napoleona Elisa Baciocchi
In 1800, Benoist exhibited "Portrait d'une négresse" in the Salon. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights.
Despite being at the height of her popularity, she chose to relinquish her career, both in painting and pursuing women's causes, due in part to her devoir de réserve or "tactful withdrawal" in English, in the face of the growing wave of conservatism in European society.
In 1793, Marie-Guillemine met Pierre-Vincent Benoist, a politician and a banker, who became her husband. Shortly after their marriage, he left for India, but came back to France in 1795.