Marguerite Gérard

Who was Marguerite Gérard?

Marguerite Gérard was a French painter and etcher. She was the daughter of Marie Gilette and perfumer Claude Gérard. At 8 years-old she became the sister-in-law of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and when she was 14, she came to live with him. She was also the aunt of the artist Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard. Gérard became Fragonard's pupil in the mid-1770s and studied painting, drawing and printmaking under his tutelage. She appears to have executed five etchings in 1778 in collaboration with the master.