Pauline Auzou

March 24, 1775 – May 15, 1835

Active in: France
Alternate names: Pauline Desmarquets

Biography

Born in Paris in 1775, Pauline Auzou came of age during the French Revolution. She was born Jeanne-Marie-Catherine Desmarquets and took the name La Chapelle when she was adopted by a cousin. She married Charles-Marie Auzou in 1793 and that same year, she began to exhibit at the Salon. Her earliest paintings were subjects from antiquity, including Daphnis and Phyllis, which she exhibited at the Salon in 1795.

In 1802, she entered the studio of Jean-Baptiste Regnault for further training. She was one of several women artists to study with Regnault at the turn of the century. Her artistic abilities quickly developed, and in 1806 she was awarded a first-class medal at the Salon for her portrait of Pickard Elder.

Following the coronation of Napoleon I as emperor of the French in 1804, Auzou aligned herself with the imperial court. In 1810, her painting of Napoleon and his bride, Marie-Louise, was exhibited at the Salon. Auzou continued to exhibit regularly at the Salon until 1817. Her later works include portraits, as well as genre and history paintings. For more than twenty years, Auzou maintained a studio for other women artists. She died in Paris in 1835.

Selected Works

A group of people in period clothing interact throughout a room. The central figures are a young man in a white coat and red trousers, who holds the arm of a young woman wearing a long white and blue dress, while a shorter woman leans on her other arm. Around the room, two young boys and three younger girls appear posed in play.

Pauline Auzou, Adieux de Marie-Louise à sa famille le 13 mars 1810, 1812. Oil on canvas. Château de Versailles

A large group of young women and girls, all wearing white dresses and carrying flowers or wearing flowers in their hair, greet a tall woman in a long-sleeved red dress with a feathered headpiece. Next to the woman in red is a man wearing a blue and red jacket.

Pauline Auzou, Arrivée de l'impératrice Marie-Louise à Compiègne le 28 mars 1810, 1810. Oil on canvas, 112 x 150 cm. Château de Versailles

A man with dark brown, slightly curly hair and light skin with rosy cheeks is seated at a desk with his hand to his chin. He wears a black jacket and a white shirt with a tallcollar that reaches his ears and chin, and a ring on his smallest finger. On the desk behind him, sheet music and a feather pen are positioned for writing.

Pauline Auzou, Portrait of a Musician, 1809. Oil on canvas, 81.28 cm x 65.41 cm. Currier Museum of Art, Museum Purchase: Ralph W. Fracker Fund, 1973.14

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Selected works

Circle

Student of
Jean-Baptiste Regnault

Bibliography

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