![Louise Abbéma - A Lady with Flowers [1883] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2889/12900498023_dbd1211cc5.jpg)
Louise Abbéma (Étampes, October 30, 1853 - Paris, July 10, 1927) was French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle Époque. She first received recognition for her work at age 23 when she painted a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, her lifelong friend and possibly her lover. Abbéma specialised in oil portraits and watercolours, and many of her works showed the influence from Chinese and Japanese painters, as well as contemporary masters such as Édouard Manet. She frequently depicted flowers in her works. Abbéma died in Paris in 1927. At the end of the 20th century, as contributions by women to the arts in past centuries received more critical and historical attention, her works have been enjoying a renewed popularity.
[Sotheby’s Auction House - Oil on canvas, 130.3 cm]