Elizabeth Gardner: First American Woman at the Paris Salon
This paper profiles Elizabeth Jane Gardner (1837–1922), an American expatriate painter who built a distinguished career in Paris during the late nineteenth century. It traces her journey from New Hampshire to the French art world, where she overcame the gender barriers of institutions such as the École des Beaux-Arts and became the first American woman to exhibit at the Paris Salon in 1868 and the first woman to win a medal there. The paper examines her relationship with and eventual marriage to William-Adolphe Bouguereau, her deliberate choice to work within the Realist academic tradition, and the way her correspondence with her brother John illuminates both her personal determination and her professional achievements.
- Introduction: An American Painter in Paris: Gardner's background, key achievements, and artistic style
- Breaking Barriers at the Paris Salon: Gender barriers overcome and medal correspondence
- Artistic Philosophy and the Influence of Bouguereau: Emulating masters and Parisian life
- Legacy as an Academic Expatriate Painter: Marriage to Bouguereau and expatriate identity
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses direct quotations from primary sources — Gardner's own letters and stated artistic philosophy — to ground biographical claims in authentic evidence.
- Balances art-historical context (the Paris Salon's prestige, gender exclusion at the École des Beaux-Arts) with personal narrative, keeping the argument grounded in Gardner's lived experience.
- Maintains a clear evaluative stance: acknowledging Gardner's self-described imitative goal while resisting the conclusion that she was artistically insignificant.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the effective use of quotation as evidence. Rather than simply paraphrasing, the author reproduces Gardner's own words — both her famous remark about preferring to be "the best imitator of Bouguereau" and her letter celebrating her medal — and then interprets their significance for her identity and career. This technique allows the subject to speak for herself while the writer frames the larger historical meaning.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized chronologically and thematically across three body paragraphs following a brief introduction: the first establishes Gardner's background and landmark achievements; the second details the institutional obstacles she faced and the pride expressed in her correspondence; the third synthesizes her artistic values, her Parisian life, and her marriage to Bouguereau as the culmination of her ambitions. A Works Cited list in MLA format closes the paper.
Introduction: An American Painter in Paris
Born in 1837 in Exeter, New Hampshire, Elizabeth Jane Gardner would become an American expatriate in Paris, where she pursued a career as an academic and salon painter, achieving renown as the first American woman to exhibit a work at the Paris Salon in 1868 at the age of 30. She was also the first female to win a medal at the Paris Salon, which she did for her painting The Farmer's Daughter (MacLean). Gardner studied painting under a number of professionals, but the one who inspired her most was William-Adolphe Bouguereau, whom Gardner would eventually marry at age 59 in 1896. Her goal as a painter, she said, was to emulate Bouguereau rather than create a style uniquely her own. She even stated, "I know I am censured for not more boldly asserting my individuality, but I would rather be known as the best imitator of Bouguereau than be nobody!" (Wissman 116).
However, Gardner was never "nobody" — on the contrary, she was a very talented and highly praised American artist whose work in Paris received rave reviews. Her work most closely resembles the Realist school — for example, The Farmer's Daughter (1878), which depicts a young woman feeding hens and which was the work that won her the gold medal from the Paris Salon. She also produced religious-themed works such as Moses in the Bullrushes (1878) and David the Shepherd (1895).
Breaking Barriers at the Paris Salon
Gardner developed her love of art while working as a teacher in Massachusetts. She moved to Paris with a friend in 1864, hoping to gain admission to the École des Beaux-Arts, but it was still a male-only institution at the time and her application was rejected. The famous art school would not admit women until nearly the very end of the nineteenth century — but by then Gardner had already made a name for herself, distinguishing herself among her peers as the first female to exhibit at the Paris Salon and the first female to win a medal there.
In 1887, upon being awarded the prize, she wrote home to her brother John, who still lived in New Hampshire, stating: "The jury voted me the honor by a very flattering majority — 30 voices out of 40. … No American woman has ever received a medal here before. You will perhaps think I attach more importance than is reasonable to so small a thing, but it makes such a difference in my position here" (MacLean). She went on to say that she hoped the medal would help increase her sales and that Monsieur Bouguereau "is very happy at my success" (MacLean). Indeed, Bouguereau admired her talents deeply — as did her brother John, with whom she frequently corresponded to share her trials, successes, and challenges while living in Paris.
Works Cited
MacLean, Maggie. "Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau: First Woman to Exhibit Her Art at the Salon." Civil War Women, 24 April 2015. https://www.civilwarwomenblog.com/elizabeth-gardner-bouguereau/
Pearo, Charles. "Elizabeth Jane Gardner: 'The Best Imitator of Bouguereau.'" In In the Studios of Paris: William Bouguereau and His American Students, edited by James Frederick Peck, 59–78. Yale University Press, 2006.
Wissman, Fronia E. Bouguereau. Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996.
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