Anne-marie Suchet-granier (1769–1844) Portrait Of The Artist’s Sister, Lyon

Anne-Marie SUCHET GRANIER
(Lyon 1769 – Lyon 1844)
Portrait of the artist’s sister, Marie-Camille Granier (1773–1820)
Black pencil drawingwith an oval view
H. 29 cm; W. 22 cm
Inscribed and dated lower left. Signed lower right—1806

Anne-Marie Granier came from a typical Lyon family. Through both her parents, she descended from lines of silk merchants who had been elevated to the rank of equerry; her father even served as Secretary to the King. Widowed less than ten years after her marriage to Jean-Christophe Suchet—himself a silk merchant—she had no children.

The question of her artistic background remains open. Most likely a simple amateur with a keen eye for drawing, Anne-Marie Suchet Granier (she signed her work with this name) must have learned to draw in Lyon, like many young women of her time.

Here, she has painted a portrait of her younger sister, Marie-Camille, at the age of 32. This portrait, dated August 26, 1806, was created at the home of another sister, Claudine Victoire, who had married Etienne de Champvieux four years earlier. The drawing was simply created at the Château de Champvieux in Saint-Germain-au-Mont-d’Or, now a square building typical of the early 19th century. Was it this residence that housed the Granier sisters, or an earlier, more rustic building? Located just a stone’s throw from the Saône River, this small château has now been converted into apartments and has undoubtedly lost all the charm of the family estate of that era.