Elizabeth Jane Gardner
| Elizabeth Jane Gardner | |
|---|---|
Photograph of Gardner, ca 1860
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| Born |
October 4, 1837 Exeter, New Hampshire |
| Died | January 28, 1922 (aged 84) Paris, France |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Young Ladies' Female Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Lasell Female Seminary in Auberndale Massachusetts |
| Known for | Painting |
| Spouse(s) | William-Adolphe Bouguereau (m. 1896) |
Elizabeth Jane Gardner (October 4, 1837 – January 28, 1922) was an American academic and salon painter, who was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. She was an American expatriate who died in Paris where she had lived most of her life. She studied in Paris under the figurative painter Hugues Merle (1823–1881), the well-known salon painter Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836–1911), and finally under William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). After Bouguereau's wife died, Gardner became his paramour and after the death of his mother, who bitterly opposed the union, she married him in 1896. She adopted his subjects, compositions, and even his smooth facture, channeling his style so successfully that some of her work might be mistaken for his. In fact, she was quoted as saying, "I know I am censured for not more boldly asserting my individuality, but I would rather be known as the best imitator of Bouguereau than be nobody!"
Gardner's best known work may be The Shepherd David Triumphant (1895), which shows the young shepherd with the lamb he has rescued. Among her other works were Cinderella, Cornelia and Her Jewels, Corinne, Fortune Teller, Maud Muller, Daphne and Chloe, Ruth and Naomi, The Farmer's Daughter, The Breton Wedding, and some portraits.
Elizabeth first attended the Young Ladies' Female Academy in Exeter then she moved on to go to the Lasell Female Seminary in Auburndale Massachusetts, she studied languages and art. Gardner learned English, French, Italian and German. She graduated in 1856, she spent the next few years teaching French at a newly opened school in Worcester waiting to become a famous artist and painter. In 1864, after being a former art teacher in Lasell Seminary, Imogene Robinson and she left to France. To pay rent she spend her time copying paintings in prestigious galleries by contemporary artists and older masters. Later that year in Autumn Elizabeth decided to apply to the School of Fine Arts or (Ecole des Beaux- Arts). This school was known as the most prestigious art academy in Paris. Sadly, her application was denied and rejected. Like most if not all art establishments at the time the school was male only. The ban for woman application was not lifted until 1897, thirty-five years after Gardner applied. Elizabeth did not give up, she continued to enroll in private classes and building an outstanding portfolio of art work.
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