What 17 Women Who We Know by the Portraits of Famous Artists Looked Like in Real Life

We know what some famous women looked like only by their portraits. Artists often rely on their own vision while creating paintings, so the heroines on the canvases can be very different from the “originals.” We decided to find photos of famous models to know what the women in the portraits really looked like.

Kee Vos-Stricker

For a long time, it was believed that the young woman depicted in the painting Memory of the Garden at Etten is the artist’s sister, Willemien. However, one researcher suggested that Van Gogh actually painted his cousin Kee, with whom he was in love at the time.

Van Gogh wooed the young lady touchingly and finally dared to propose to her, but Kee famously rebuffed him with a curt “No, at no time, never.” After that, the woman left and never met the painter again.

Lise Tréhot

Tréhot was Renoir’s favorite model for 6 years and appeared on many of the artist’s paintings. Not much is known about the true nature of their relationship, but it was rumored that Lise Tréhot gave birth to 2 of Renoir’s children.

Their creative union ended unexpectedly. 2 years after the birth of their youngest daughter, Lise suddenly stopped posing for the artist and for the rest of his days didn’t meet and didn’t talk to him. Renoir also didn’t mention Lisa, neither in his interviews nor in his memoirs.

Eva Gonzalès

Eva Gonzalès was the only official student of Édouard Manet. The girl began taking lessons from the famous painter when he was not in favor. The last paintings of the artist were deeply criticized, so he got really depressed. However, work with Eva took Manet out of this state.

Méry Laurent

Méry Laurent was a demimondaine and the muse of great artists. She was born into a poor family: her mother was a laundress, and Méry never knew her father. At the age of 16, Laurent was able to escape to Paris, where she began to play on the theater stage. Soon she met a wealthy dentist, Thomas W. Evans, who began to support her.

It was Evans’ funds that helped Laurent open her famous salon, where writers, artists and other creative people met. At different times, her lovers were François Coppée, Stéphane Mallarmé and Édouard Manet. Laurent often posed for the latter.

Émilie Ambre

Émilie Ambre performed leading soprano roles on the opera stage. For some time, she was the lover of the King of the Netherlands. Her voice was admired by many contemporaries, but now she is known not as a singer, but as the woman depicted in the famous Édouard Manet’s portrait of her as Carmen.

Aline Charigot

Aline met Renoir when she was 20 years old, and he was almost 40. Soon the girl agreed to pose for the artist. After a long affair and the birth of their first son, the couple married. It was Aline who supported Renoir when he developed rheumatoid arthritis over the years.

Wally Neuzil

Wally was Egon Schiele’s lover and model for 4 years, until the artist decided to marry advantageously. Though, Schiele didn’t plan to break off the relationship with his girlfriend and even offered her to go on holiday together, but she responded with a firm refusal. After parting, Wally and Egon never saw each other again, and 2 years later she died of scarlet fever.

Alexa Wilding

Alexa Wilding was one of the favorite models of the famous Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and inspired many of his paintings. Unfortunately, very few facts of this beauty’s biography have reached our days.

Unlike other models, Alexa and Rossetti were connected only by business and friendship, there was no passion between them. At the same time, the artist financially supported the woman even after she stopped posing for him.

Effie Gray

Effie fell in love with the artist John Everett Millais when he painted the portrait of her husband John Ruskin. The woman’s marriage was very unsuccessful, so one day she told Ruskin that she wanted to visit her family. Once under her parents’ roof, Effie sent her husband the wedding ring along with the message that she was filing for divorce.

The marriage was soon annulled, and a year later Effie and Millais married. The story of this famous love triangle has been the basis for several plays, movies and an opera.

Friederike Maria Beer-Monti

The girl was born into a wealthy family and from a young age was fond of art. At the age of 23, she went traveling around the world with her lover, the artist Hans Adolf Bühler, although the young people’s parents were against their affair.

When Hans wanted to please his girlfriend with a special gift, planning to buy a pearl necklace for her, Friederike stated that she would like to receive her portrait performed by Gustav Klimt. The great artist at first flatly refused to paint Friederike, but later agreed. In the 1930s, Friederike moved to America, where she first worked in an art gallery and later became its manager.

Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt is called one of the 3 “great ladies” of Impressionism. The woman from childhood dreamed of becoming a professional artist and at the age of 22 moved to Paris to study painting on her own.

One day, Mary saw a painting of Edgar Degas in a shop window, and it changed her life. Soon the artists became friends, they were linked by common interests, and they collaborated for a long time. Mary was not only a painter, but also a model for Degas.

Gertrude Vernon

Gertrude Vernon came from an aristocratic family and in 1889 became the wife of Sir Andrew Agnew. A few years later, the lady decided to order her portrait from the famous artist John Singer Sargent. The painting gained unprecedented popularity, which raised Gertrude’s prestige in the society.

Suzanne Hoschedé

Suzanne Hoschedé was Claude Monet’s stepdaughter and often appeared in his paintings. When the artist’s favorite model decided to marry, he was against it. However, the artist quickly changed his mind when he learned that the girl’s chosen one, the painter Theodore Earl Butler, comes from a fairly wealthy family.

Adele Meyer

The wealth of her husband allowed Adele Meyer to enter aristocratic circles, but she didn’t want to devote all her time to social life. Together with her husband, the woman collected works of art and supported talent. In addition, Adele actively participated in charity work and fought for women’s rights. Her portrait, painted by John Singer Sargent where she is depicted as a socialite, was exhibited in 1897.

Berthe Morisot

Édouard Manet often painted Berthe until she married his brother. It was rumored that Morisot and Manet were careful to conceal their mutual love, although there is no evidence of this. All that is known is that she was a good friend of Manet’s for many years, and they often corresponded.

Élisabeth Greffulhe

The daughter of Prince de Chimay, Élisabeth Greffulhe was the owner of one of the most fashionable Parisian salons. Her beauty and intelligence were admired by many famous people. Élisabeth was a passionate fan of music: she organized many famous concerts and supported young talents. She often posed for artists and photographers.

Alma Mahler-Werfel

Mahler was a real femme fatale and had a lot of lovers. Alma and Oskar Kokoschka’s stormy romance lasted 2 years, and the artist even dedicated one of his most famous paintings to her. But the woman decided to break off the relationship, stating that she was afraid to get too carried away with her lover.

After that, Mahler married twice more. Kokoschka continued to love her till the end of his days.

And these 6 women became famous artists’ companions alongside their wives. Check out the article about them.