Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883) was a French artist born in Paris. Despite her incredible body of artwork, her career as a painter is usually overshadowed by her relationship with her male colleagues. She was a part of the Impressionist movement and like many impressionists of the time, she never had her work shown in the formal Paris Salon. She was introduced to the socialite world of Paris through her father. He was a renowned writer at the time. Gonzalès began her training at age sixteen with a famous portraitist but later was introduced to Édouard Manet. Gonzalès quickly became the first and only student he ever took during his time as an artist.
While Gonzalès was respected by her male colleagues, her work was consistently criticized by the critics. Her artwork was compared to her teacher, and she found it difficult to be seen as an independent, individual artist. She struggled with being taken seriously instead of only by her connection to her teacher. Her artwork focused on still-life, portraits, and scenes of daily life, though she found it hard to capture authentic daily life as she was held back by what was considered appropriate for women at the time. Beyond painting, Gonzalès used pastels, drawing, and watercolors. She had an incredible ability with pastels to make them appear like an oil painting on a canvas.
Unlike many impressionists, she rarely painted outdoors and usually painted portraits or scenes of life. She usually painted her social circle, especially her sister and family members. Even though she had studied art since she was sixteen, only about 120 pieces of her work survive, and most of them are kept in private collections currently. Tragically, her artistic pursuits were cut short as she died in childbirth at age 34. Currently, her work is displayed in several museums in France and two prominent impressionist museums as well.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Gonzal%C3%A8s
https://thewomangallery.com/eva-gonzales-1849-1883/
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/gonzales-eva/
https://www.itravelwithart.com/eva-gonzales-the-impressionism-art-movement/