Marie-Josèphe Caron, called in Spanish Doña María Josefa Carrón (baptized 13 January 1725; died 21 December 1784) was a French artist active in Spain.

Biography

Born in Paris, Caron was one of the five sisters of

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...

, born to watchmaker André-Charles Caron; their cousin was the artist Suzanne Caron. At her baptism at the her godmother was listed as Jeanne-Josèphe de La Borde. On 27 November 1748, at Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, she married one Louis Guillebert, possibly Guilbert (1717–1772) a ''maître maçon'' who was soon appointed architect to the king of Spain, whereupon the couple settled in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

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at the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''. Accompanying them was her younger sister, Marie-Louise, called Lisette, whose involvement with a Spanish official, José Clavijo y Fajardo, led the playwright to make a 1764 trip to rescue her honor, a story which later inspired the play '' Clavigo'' by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

. In Madrid, Marie-Josèphe established a fashion shop; her husband, meanwhile, lost his reason and died. In 1770 she sent a letter of application to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

; later that same year she repeated her request. Early in 1771 she received a favorable response, pending submission of an artwork as part of the application. In May 1771 she was at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, from which she wrote to thank the Académie; soon thereafter she apologized for the delay in sending the required artwork, attributing it to the death of her husband and to a serious illness on her part. She was recovered enough by that December to submit her work, a portrait of a Marseillais lieutenant-colonel, which she sent from Madrid. In 1772 she returned to Paris where, without funds, she relied upon her brother's financial support until her death. Spanish sources claim she died in Madrid in 1823, but this is incorrect. A 1761 portrait in pastel of the architect

Diego de Villanueva Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. E ...

is in the collection of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Marie-Josephe 1725 births 1784 deaths French women painters French expatriates in Spain 18th-century French painters 18th-century French women artists Pastel artists Painters from Paris