Marianne Loir was born with art in her veins and in the air she breathed.

Her brother Alexis was a pastelist and sculptor, her father (also named Alexis, but second of his name) was a goldsmith, her grandfather Nicolas was a painter of allegories, and her family line has long been silversmiths for a hundred years. With a lineage like that, it came as no surprise that she eventually took up painting portraits.

Her teachers, Hubert Drouais and Jean François de Troy, were two of the best artists of the time period, with Troy himself as the director of the French Academy in Rome during her stay there from 1738 to 1746. She had the privilege of being privately tutored by both of them. If that isn’t winning the artistic lottery, I don’t know what is.

Unfortunately, Loir's body of work was not as prolific, with only ten paintings attributed to her throughout her life. It’s probable that it wasn’t just being a woman in 18th century Paris that was a factor, but that she was also being overshadowed by the fame of her family members. No amount of staggering wealth or prestige from family blood could hope to change any of that.

She moved southward to Provence in 1762 and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts there, probably to both enjoy the warmer Mediterranean climate and have an easier time finding patrons due to the oversaturated market in Paris.

It wasn’t until twenty years later that female painters like herself would begin to enjoy greater status and acclaim in the salons, elevating themselves into positions to not only serve royalty but also become entangled in the drama and scandal of their lives. The lady of the Loir line died in 1769, long before Enlightenment ideals would bring about revolution that would reinvent France herself.