Frédérique Émilie Auguste O'Connell, whose name at birth was ''Emilie Friederike Auguste Miethe,'' was born in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

on 28 March 1822 and died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1885. A German painter and portraitist, her work was in vogue among the Parisian social set of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

. Her works of engraving, rare and limited in number, were prized by the critics of the era. Nonetheless, she died forgotten as an artist. Madame O'Connell is mentioned in the memoir of Irish pastel portraitist Henriett Corkran (1841/2- 1911) who recalled that O'Connell lived and worked in La Place Vintimille, in Paris. Miss Corkran, who wished to become one of O'Connell's pupils, described her as having a 'plain countenance ... redeemed by wonderful dark eyes, full of fire and intelligence'. Among the paintings Corkran observed in Madame O'Connell's studio were portraits of poet

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

, author Alexandre Dumas and the social reformer le Père Enfantin. Corkran further recalls that O'Connell was 'interested in the rights of humanity, the liberty of women.

Notes and references

1822 births 1885 deaths Romanticism German women painters 19th-century German women artists {{Germany-artist-stub