Elisabeth Sonrel 1874-1953

A precociously gifted artist, Élisabeth Sonrel received her earliest training from her father, the Tours painter Stéphane Sonrel, before continuing her studies in Jules Lefebvre’s studio at the Académie Julian in Paris, from which she graduated in 1892.

From the following year onwards, she exhibited large watercolours and paintings at the Salon depicting idealised female figures in a Pre-Raphaelite spirit. These works reveal her profound debt to the masters of the early Italian Renaissance, particularly Botticelli, whose paintings she had admired during a visit to Rome and Florence.

Although she never participated in the Salons de la Rose+Croix, from which women were excluded, her work displays strong affinities with the Symbolist aesthetic promoted by Joséphin Péladan, who himself praised the delicacy and precision of her art.

Awarded a bronze medal at the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition and the Henri Lehmann Prize by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Sonrel enjoyed a particularly prolific career and exhibited regularly at the Salon until 1941.

After settling in Sceaux in 1895 (fig. 1), she drew inspiration from medieval legends, religious subjects, idealised heroines and the landscapes of Brittany. She discovered the latter through regular stays in Brocéliande, Concarneau, Pont-l’Abbé, Le Faouët and Loctudy, where her palette became lighter and her style more Naturalistic.

A sought-after illustrator of missals and religious books, Sonrel also saw her compositions widely reproduced as posters, postcards and decorative silks, contributing to the influence of Art Nouveau.

Having fallen into relative obscurity after her death, Élisabeth Sonrel is now being rediscovered as one of the leading artists of fin-de-siècle Symbolism. Her œuvre combines spirituality, poetry and decorative refinement with exceptional elegance.