VALLAYER-COSTER, ANNE

1744 Paris 1818

The daughter of a goldsmith and a miniature painter, Vallayer-Coster was one of only a few women to be admitted to the prestigious Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1770 at the age of 26. She was celebrated as an exceptional artist by the French bourgeoisie and by Denis Diderot (1713–1784), among others. A few years later, around 1784, she was considered the most renowned still life painter in France. In her younger years she probably studied under the famous landscape painter Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). She specialised in still life paintings, and later in bouquets of flowers in particular. Her clients included Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755–1793) and Prince de Conti (1717–1776), one of the most important collectors of the second half of the 18th century, as well as Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763–1814) in the aftermath of the French Revolution.