Marie-Denise Villers

Marie- Denise Villers (* 1774 as Marie- Denise Lemoine in Paris; † August 19, 1821 in Paris) was a French painter. The artist is best known for Porträtbildnisse in the style of classicism.

Life and work

Marie- Denise Lemoine came in 1774 as the daughter of Charles Lemoine and Marie -Anne Rousselle, in Paris. Her sisters Marie- Victoire Lemoine (1754-1820) and Marie- Élisabeth Lemoine were also active as a portrait painter interior. The family lived in the Rue Traversière - Saint-Honoré (now Rue Molière ) near the Palais Royal in the 1st arrondissement. To further relationship of the family, the artist Jeanne- Élisabeth was Chaudet (1767-1832), who was a cousin of Lemoine - sisters. Marie- Denise Lemoine married in 1794 the students of architecture Michel -Jean- Maximilien Villers. Little is known about the youth of Marie- Denise Villers, but they may have come early with the painting in contact by its 20-year older sister Marie- Victoire and her cousin Jeanne- Élisabeth Chaudet. Proved is their contact Anne Louis Girodet - Trioson, as its student she exhibited three works at the Paris Salon in 1799. In addition, they took lessons from François Gerard and Jacques -Louis David.

Among the works of Marie- Denise Villers in the Salon of 1799 included a " portrait of a woman painting ", which was awarded a prize of 1500 francs, and regarded by critics as a self-portrait. 1801 exhibited in the Salon " Étude d'une jeune femme assise sur une fenêtre " from 1802 followed a genre painting entitled "Un enfant dans son berceau, entraine par les eaux de l' inondation du mois de nivôse an X". Her last known picture is a portrait of the Duchess of Angoulême from the year 1814. Marie- Denise Villers fell into obscurity after her death and was only rediscovered in the late 19th century. Her works are often their teacher Girodet - Trioson, but also Jacques -Louis David been attributed. One of her best known works today, the " undersigned young woman " from the year 1801 ( Metropolitan Museum of Art), only applies since 1996 as a work Villers. Art historians suspect in this picture a self-portrait of the artist.

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