Constance Marie Charpentier (born 4 April 1767 Paris, – 3 August 1849 Paris) was a French painter. She specialized in

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

, mainly of children and women. She was also known as Constance Marie Blondelu.

Life and career

Records of Charpentier's training are unclear, but she might have studied with numerous artists. She is typically believed to have studied with the acclaimed French painter

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, but may also have been a pupil of

François Gérard François Pascal Simon Gérard (, 4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a prominent French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was It ...

, Pierre Bouillon,

Louis Lafitte Louis Lafitte (November 15, 1770 in Paris – August 3, 1828 in Paris) was a French painter, designer, illustrator and muralist. Biography He was the son of a master barber. In 1778, his father offered refuge to the painter Simon Mathurin La ...

and either

Johann Georg Wille Johann Georg Wille, or Jean Georges Wille (5 November 1715, near Biebertal - 5 April 1808, Paris) was a German-born copper engraver, who spent most of his life in France. He also worked as an art dealer. Life and work He was the eldest of seven ...

or his son, Pierre-Alexandre Wille. In 1788 she received a 'Prix d'Encouragement.' From 1795 to 1819 she exhibited approximately thirty paintings at various Salons, winning a gold medal in 1814 at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

and a silver medal in 1821 at the Salon at Douai. It is believed that some of Charpentier's works were incorrectly attributed to her teacher, David. The well-known painting ''Young Woman Drawing'' (1801) was incorrectly attributed first to David, then to Charpentier, and is now believed to be the work of

Marie-Denise Villers Marie-Denise Villers (''née'' Lemoine; 1774 – 19 August 1821) was a French Painting, painter who specialized in portraits. Life Marie-Denise Lemoine was born in Paris to Charles Lemoine and Marie-Anne Rouselle. Two of her three sisters, Marie ...

. Based on surviving, positively identified works by Charpentier, she is considered one of the finest portrait painters of her era.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charpentier, Constance Marie 1767 births 1849 deaths French women painters French portrait painters Pupils of Jacques-Louis David Artists from Paris 18th-century French women artists 19th-century French women artists