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Artist Eva Gonzalez may not be as well known as her fellow female impressionist artists but she should be. 

Born on April 19, 1849, in Paris, her father Emmanuell Gonzalez was a Spanish novelist and playwright and her mother was a trained musician. With their creativity handed down to her at a very early age, she was drawn to painting and sketching. 

A chance meeting through artists Alfred Stevens in February 1869 would put her on the path to being a known artist. Stevens took Eva to the studio of Edouard Manet who at the time was obsessed with anything Spanish and Eve had the look he loved. He immediately wanted to paint her and took her in as his one and only ever student. 

Manet was going through a lot at the time. The critics were slamming him for Olympia and Dejeuner sur l’herbe and he was starting to pull himself away from the art world and turn into a shut-in. Meeting Eve was just what he needed. His first painting of her premiered at the Salon of 1870, titled Mademoiselle Eve Gonzalez. 

Like her teacher Manet, Emile Zola came to her defense writing pamphlets supporting her art and gaining her more attention. In 1874 she moved to a softer touch and from Manet’s style and continued to use her sister as her model. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

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