Marie Lacroix (1831–1907) – Portrait Of A Young Boy

Marie Lacroix (1831–1907) – Portrait of a Young Boy – Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1890

Oil on canvas depicting a young boy wearing a black suit with a white collar, holding a hat in his hand. The work is signed and dated 1890.

This painting is the work of Marie Lacroix (1831–1907), the artist name of Maria Anselma Alejandrina Aurora Gessler de Lacroix, also known by the pseudonym Madame Anselma. A prominent figure in the European art scene of the second half of the 19th century, she was born in 1831 to a Russian father and a mother of Scottish and Irish descent. Trained in Paris in the studio of the painter Charles Chaplin, she moved in Parisian artistic circles alongside artists such as Mary Cassatt. She exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1865 and 1885, where her work was noted for the quality of her drawing and painting.

Her talent was recognized beyond France, as she was admitted to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid as well as to the Academy of Cádiz—a particularly rare distinction for a woman of her time.

Dated 1890, this portrait was created during the artist’s prime. The simplicity of the background and the careful rendering of the face draw all attention to the young boy’s expression.