18-19th Cent. Anne Vallayer-Coster

Still Life with Seashells and Coral

1769

Musée du Louvre

The Attributes of The Arts

1769
Musée du Louvre

The Attributes of Music 
1770 
Musée du Louvre

Anne Vallayer-Coster was born on 21 December 1744, at the Bièvre, Seine River, in France. She was the daughter of Joseph Vallayer. She had three sisters. In 1754, the family moved to Paris. She received her training from her father, Madeleine Basseport and Joseph Vernet. In 1755, she painted Portrait of an Elderly Woman with her Daughter. In 1767, Still Life with Ham, Bottles and Radishes. In 1769, Still Life with Seashells and Coral. After submitting her still life painting, The Attributes of Music in 1770, Anne Vallayer-Coster was invited into the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris. In 1775, Vallayer-Coster exhibited her first still lifes with flowers. In 1776, she painted Bouquet of Flowers in a Blue Porcelain Vase. In 1779, she began to enjoy the patronage of Marie Antoinette, Queen Consort of France and Navarre (1755-1793). In 1780, Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre commissioned Anne Vallayer-Coster to be the Court painter. Marie Antoinette signed the marriage contract for Anne Vallayer-Coster and her fiancé, Jean-Pierre Silvestre Coster in 1781. Anne Vallayer-Coster and Jean-Pierre Silvestre Coster were married at Versailles. In 1783, she was painted by Alexander Roslin. During the French Revolution, Vallayer-Coster kept hidden. In 1804, Joséphine de Beauharnais acquired two works from her. In 1817, she painted Still Life with Lobster. In 1817, she displayed paintings that belonged to Louis XVIII in her last exhibition at the Louvre. Anne Vallayer-Coster died on 28 February 1818, in Paris, France.