Marguerite Gérard

Life & Legacy

Marguerite Gérard (French pronunciation: [maʁɡəʁit ʒeʁaʁ]; 28 January 1761 in Grasse – 18 May 1837 in Paris) was a French painter and printmaker working in the Rococo style. She was the daughter of Marie Gilette and perfumer Claude Gérard. At eight years old, she became the sister-in-law of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and when she was 14, she went to live with him. She was also the aunt of the artist Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard. Gérard became Fragonard's pupil in the mid-1770s and studied painting, drawing and printmaking under his tutelage. Gérard and Fragonard created nine etchings in 1778. Historians currently believe Gérard was the sole artist of five of these etchings, since many have a duplicate created by her tutor Fragonard. More than 300 genre paintings, 80 portraits, and several miniatures have been documented to Gérard. One of her paintings, The Clemency of Napoleon, was purchased by Napoleon in 1808.