Sophie Gengembre Anderson

Sophie Gengembre Anderson[needs IPA] (1823 – 10 March 1903) was a French-born British Victorian painter who was also active in the United States for extended periods.

[5] The Gengembre family lived in Paris during the early years of Sophie's life, where her father was acquainted with artists, intellectuals and actors, including François Joseph Talma.

[5] She was largely self-taught in art, but briefly studied portrait painting with Charles de Steuben in about 1843,[8][3] when she lived with family friends in Paris.

[9][6] The family first settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she met her future husband, the British genre artist Walter Anderson.

[8] Her portrait, figure and Brittany landscape paintings were exhibited in October 1849 at the Western Art Union Gallery.

Also exhibited was a three panel set of Victorian London scenes entitled The Ladder of Love, which was described as "the lady, in her flowery 'May of Life,' awaits in her father's garden a stolen interview with her lover; in the second, she is seen eagerly caught in his impatient arms, ere he has yet left the ladder upon which he surmounted the garden wall; in the third, having received and given reveals of unfaltering love, she walks alone again – beautiful in the enrobing light of a summer moon, happy in the assurance that the warmth and devotedness of her affection is reciprocated.

[10][self-published source] In 1854, the Andersons moved to London,[6] where Sophie exhibited a still life of fruit, vegetables, game, and fish entitled An American Market Basket at the Society of British Artists by 1855.

The painting depicts the varying ages of the foundling girls, what they wore, and references the religious aspects of their life.

[17] To manage her health issues,[clarification needed][9] the couple moved to the Isle of Capri in 1871, where they lived, painted,[18][13] and entertained society in a house with a large garden called Villa Castello.

Its residents included Frederic Leighton, Walter McLaren, John Singer Sargent, Edouard Alexandre Sain, and Jean Benner.

[19] A world record price for her work of more than £1 million was achieved by No Walk Today at Sotheby's, London, in November 2008.