An oil on canvas painting, *Mother and Child* by Maximilienne GUYON
An oil on canvas painting, *Mother and Child* by Maximilienne GUYON
12.800,00 €
GUYON Maximilienne, Mrs. Goepp 1868–1903
Painter of genre scenes, portraits, flowers, and fruit; watercolorist; illustrator.
Maximilienne Guyon (married name Goepp) was one of the few female artists of the late 19th century to have been trained at the Académie Julian under the guidance of some of the greatest masters: Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury, Jules Lefebvre, and Gustave Boulanger.
She received a travel grant in 1894.
She exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris from 1887 to 1903, winning a third-class medal in 1888.
She was part of the delegation of French women artists featured at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, who were housed in the Woman’s Building
Further information
| Dimensions | 89 × 102 cm |
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An accomplished portraitist, figure painter, watercolorist, printmaker, and illustrator, Maximilienne Guyon has developed a body of work deeply rooted in the depiction of childhood, everyday life, and human emotions.
His precise drawing style, a product of his academic training, is combined with a naturalistic sensibility in which light, facial expressions, and the psychology of his subjects play a central role.
She also illustrates works by Honoré de Balzac and André Theuriet, while teaching painting.
Maximilienne Guyon, who died prematurely in 1903 at the age of just thirty-five, left behind a relatively small body of work.
Her work displays remarkable diversity. Maximilienne Guyon divides her time between portraits of Parisian high society—in which she reveals great psychological subtlety—
and more intimate depictions of women, portraying young women of elegant beauty, at times alluring and sensual.
Without ever veering into the provocative, she knows how to blend academic refinement with a discreet sensuality, characteristic of the Belle Époque aesthetic.
This duality—between the social portrait and the feminine ideal—is one of the hallmarks of her work.
In this moving composition, Maximilienne Guyon depicts a young woman holding a child in her arms, likely her daughter.
The two figures occupy nearly the entire surface of the canvas, creating an immediate sense of closeness with the viewer. The older woman’s serious gaze, directed straight at us, is the true emotional center of the work.
The landscape stretching out behind them—likely the banks of the Seine or the Marne—is rendered with great atmospheric subtlety.
The still-sparse trees, the houses blending into a light mist, and the peaceful reflections on the water create a calm and luminous setting, without distracting from the figures.
Beyond its technical merits, this painting reflects Maximilienne Guyon’s enduring interest in scenes of everyday life and childhood.
With its psychologically accurate characters and understated staging, this work follows in the great tradition of late 19th-century realist portraits, while revealing the artist’s deeply personal sensibility.