Dubourg was born in Paris and trained with artist Fanny Chéron[1] While there, she met the painter Henri Fantin-Latour, whom she married in 1876 and after which she collaborated with, on his floral paintings.

[1] Dubourg has been critiqued incorrectly by some as an artist whose work lacks originality, alleged to simply have reproduced the styles of her husband,[2] however, a careful review of her early work shows that Dubourg began producing still life paintings two years prior to meeting Fantin-Latour and that her paintings had been admitted for exhibition at eight salons prior to her marriage,[3] signifiying her acceptance as an established painter in a very competitive art milieu.

Her father Philippe Bienvenu had lived in Buré and bequeathed Dubourg the house located at a place called "La Croix" upon his death on March 28, 1878.

A music lover and pianist, Dubourg also studied painting and copied the major works of artists such as Willem Kalf at the Louvre.

Victoria Dubourg's early works displayed popular styles of that time, including a 1870 portrait of her sister, Charlotte.

[8] She is part of the circle of painters that included Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas and signed her early work simply as "V Dubourg".