Joséphine Houssaye (known As Houssay) (1840-1914) - Diane Chasseresse, Circa 1890

Joséphine Houssaye (known as Houssay) (1840-1914) - Diane Chasseresse, Circa 1890

Rare and superb Diane Huntress made with wax in relief on a slate support.
In its original mount, circa 1890
Signed in gold on the upper right
J. Houssay
Dimensions of the mount: 51 x 38 cm
Dimensions of the work: 28.5 x 16 cm

Born in Nantes on December 25, 1840, Joséphine Houssaye is a student of Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury and Jean-Jacques Henner at the Académie Julian. She is the sister of the sculptor Frédéric Houssaye (1827-1899). She began as a painter at the Salon of 1868. She exhibited at the women's pavilion of the Universal Exhibition of 1878. She joined the Society of French Artists in 1883. She obtained a third class medal at the Salon of 1892 and a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. In 1893, the organizers of the Universal Exhibition in Chicago granted a pavilion dedicated to Women: this Woman's Building incorporated a hundred visual artists from all over the world, including thirty French painters, partly forgotten , including Josephine Houssaye. She is part of the Union of Women Painters and Sculptors. Her large canvas, The Lesson, was reproduced in the book Women Painters of the World, published in 1905.