Marie Louise Catherine Breslau was born in Munich, Germany, to a Swiss family and spent much of her early life in Zürich. Initially intending to become a teacher, she shifted her focus to art after health issues kept her indoors, where she began sketching and painting. In 1876, she moved to Paris to study at the Académie Julian, one of the few art schools at the time that accepted women. There, she trained under Tony Robert-Fleury and was influenced by the French academic tradition while also encountering the more progressive ideas of Impressionism and Naturalism.
Park motif and verso interior sketch, oil on panel, clubbed for 2 352 GBP at Stockholms Auktionsverk.
A Renowned Portraitist of Parisian Society
Breslau quickly established herself as a sought-after portrait painter in Paris, admired for her ability to capture the personality and presence of her sitters. Her works combined technical precision with a softness of brushwork and a sensitivity to mood. Many of her portraits depict women in moments of quiet reflection, rendered with a painterly elegance that balanced realism with a subtle, almost poetic atmosphere. She also produced self-portraits and intimate scenes of family and friends, which reveal her introspective nature and her deep engagement with the art of character study.
Exhibitions, Recognition, and Lasting Impact
Breslau exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon, where she won critical praise and awards, breaking through barriers for women in the male-dominated art world of the time. She was awarded the French Legion of Honour, a rare distinction for a foreign-born woman artist in that era. Today, her paintings are held in museums across Europe, including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Marie Louise Catherine Breslau’s work endures as an example of how a determined and talented artist could navigate, and thrive within, the cultural currents of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leaving behind a body of work that is both intimate and timeless.