Flowers in a vase and plum branch on a marble tablet

Born in 1776, Élise Bruyère was trained by her father, the painter Jean Jacques Le Barbier. She was introduced to portraiture and miniature painting and then frequented the studio of Jan Frans van Dael, one of the leading masters of flower painting in the early 19th century. From the 17th century onwards, the craze for still lives combined with the growing interest for botanic encouraged the development of this pictorial genre, first in Holland, then throughout Europe. Elise Bruyère’s works, such as Flowers in a vase and plum branch on a marble tablet, bear witness to her perfect technical mastery and acute sense of detail. At the time, women painters were often restricted to the still life genre, which was considered minor. Élise Bruyère exhibited at the Salon from 1798 on and met with success. In 1827, she was the first woman to be awarded a medal for a flower painting.