Eva Gonzalès was born in Paris in 1849. She took her first art lessons at age 16 in drawing from society portraitist, Charles Chaplin. Mary Cassatt also studied under Chaplin. By 1869, Gonzalès was a pupil of the artist Édouard Manet. He would paint a portrait of her that is now in the National Gallery in London. She married Manet’s engraver, Henri Guerard.
She exhibited her work in the Paris salons and her style was accepted by Impressionist and Realist critics. Eva Gonzalès is known for painting subjects from life, including portraits and still-lifes. In 1892, her work was exhibited at the offices of the art review L’Art. A year later she was given a show at the Galerie Georges Petit.
She died in childbirth in 1883 at the age of 44 and as a result her life’s work was small. Much of it today in public collections. In 1885, a retrospective of 88 works was held at the Salons de La Vie Moderne. The Grove Dictionary of Art. Eva Gonzalès work is highly desired by collectors today.