Constance Mayer

Marie-Françoise Constance Mayer La Martinière (9 March 1775 – 26 May 1821)

Biography

Constance Mayer was the daughter of a successful government official. Having studied with Joseph-Benoît Suvée and Jean-Baptiste Greuze,

Following the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, society settled into a calmer lifestyle in which miniature and portrait paintings became popular. Mayer painted portraits of women and children, family scenes, self-portraits and miniatures of her father. She attained a degree of success, exhibited Self-Portrait of Citizenness Mayer Pointing to a Sketch for a Portrait of Her Mother, and exhibited at every salon thereafter. At the 1801 salon, she exhibited Self-Portrait with Artist's Father: He Points to a Bust of Raphael, Inviting Her to Take This Celebrated Painter as a Model. Sensitive to the viewpoint of women artists, Mayer had her work presented as the student of Greuze and Suvee so that they would be more acceptable to the public. She worked in Jacques-Louis David's studio in 1801 and adopted a direct and simple style under his tutelage, but still depicted sentimental scenes. but they did not have the typical pupil-master relationship. In many ways, there were more like peers. They had both exhibited at the salon and unlike Prud'hon, she had received a better education in art, and he was known for his talent in drawing, particularly complex historic compositions. in an asylum and Prud'hon was given custody of their children.

After the artist Prud'hon had separated from his wife, the Emperor Napoleon gave him an apartment in the Sorbonne. At about the same time (c. 1803), Napoléon, who had purchased two of her paintings, gave Mayer an apartment there too. There she served as Prud'hon's assistant, raised his five children and was known as his "favorite pupil."

After 1804 her works of art were greatly influenced by Prud'hon and subsequently received greater acclaim for her paintings.

Prud'hon's wife died and Mayer had expected that she would marry him. Prone to depression throughout her life,

Controversy

As was often the case with women artists who were associated with better known male artists, there were claims made that she did not produce all the work attributed to her and because of her long relationship with Prud'hon, it is still not well understood exactly what he did and what she did. This confusion is in large part due to the fact that the two artists collaborated on several works: he sketched the design and she made the paintings.

Her work was exhibited by the National Museum of Women of the Arts in "An Imperial Collection: Women Artists from the State Hermitage Museum."

Gallery