Marie Octavie (Octavia) Sturel Paign\u00e9 was born on May 7, 1819, in the city of Metz, in northeastern France. Her parents were Jacques Paign\u00e9, a former captain in the Imperial Guard, and Catherine Meunier. Orphaned at an early age, Marie was sent at the age of 16 to the studio of Laurent-Charles Mar\u00e9chal. Mar\u00e9chal led the artistic circle around the school in Metz, where painting with oils and pastels, drawing, engraving, stained glass and even sculpture were practiced. The circle of artists, including Louis-Th\u00e9odore Devilly, drew inspiration from the paintings of Delacroix, which depicted romantic landscapes and exotic themes with Oriental figures and historical subjects. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870, followed by the annexation of Metz, brought this artistic circle to an end.<\/p>\n
Mar\u00e9chal returned to working with pastels, and his pupil followed the example of her teacher. Marie successively exhibited her pastel paintings The Girl with the Rosary<\/em>, The Morning Glory Garland<\/em> and The Ecstasy of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary<\/em>. Again following her teacher\u2019s advice, Marie abandoned portrait and figure painting and devoted herself entirely to still-life compositions. Soon, her flowers and fruits, created in pastel, achieved an extraordinary degree of realism and perfection. Marie\u2019s first paintings impressed everyone, and her works were exhibited alongside those of some of the greatest artists at the Paris Salon between 1844 and 1853. In 1852, two of Marie\u2019s flower paintings were exhibited at the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019Union des Arts. One depicted a bouquet of hollyhocks, while the other showed a bouquet of peonies and irises. Both paintings generated great enthusiasm among art lovers and artists. The flower bouquets were so realistic and admired that they were exhibited again at the Salon in 1853. An art critic expressed his opinion in the first article devoted to the exhibition, writing: \u201cThe honor goes to two women,\u201d one of whom was Mrs. Sturel Paign\u00e9. Empress Eug\u00e9nie herself, who visited the exhibition, was captivated by Marie\u2019s flowers and decided to acquire her \u201cbouquets\u201d for her room at the Palace of Saint-Cloud, located in \u00cele-de-France, the region surrounding Paris. The works were acquired for the imperial collection after the 1853 Salon, together with another pastel by Marie Octavie Sturel Paign\u00e9.<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s professional success was accompanied by personal happiness. The artist, who had been married to Alexandre Sturel since 1845, was expecting her second child. Marie and Alexandre already had a daughter, but the artist wished for a boy. Her happiness did not last long. Three days after giving birth to her second child, Marie died in January 1854, at the age of 34.<\/p>\n The works Marie Octavie left behind number around 130 paintings and drawings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marie Octavie (Octavia) Sturel Paign\u00e9 was born on May 7, 1819, in the city of Metz, in northeastern France. Her parents were Jacques Paign\u00e9, a former captain in the Imperial Guard, and Catherine Meunier. Orphaned at an early age, Marie was sent at the age of 16 to the studio of Laurent-Charles Mar\u00e9chal. Mar\u00e9chal led …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[720],"tags":[19194,19191,19192,19190,19189,19193],"snipool_ingredient":[],"class_list":["post-41401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-empress-eugenie","tag-french-female-painter-of-the-19th-century","tag-laurent-charles-marechal","tag-marie-octavie-sturel-paigne-artist","tag-marie-octavie-sturel-paigne-biography","tag-paris-salon"],"yoast_head":"\n