Eva Gonzales (1849-1883)

Gonzales grew up in an environment that valued the arts; her father was a well-known novelist and her mother, an accomplished musician.

Her biggest influence was Manet, whom she met in 1869. She became his student, model, and friend. Although many of her works show theatergoers and women relaxing outdoors, her style was not Impressionist.

Her works resembled Manet's early "Spanish" paintings, featuring a dark restricted palette with strong contrasts of light and dark. Four years after her marriage to Henri Guerard, an engraver, she had a son and then suddenly died that same year.

Eva Gonzales
Woman in White
1879
oil on canvas 100x82cm
National Museum of Women in the Arts, DC