Nancy Mérienne

• Name — Nancy Mérienne • Birth Name — Anne Antoinette Soiron • Born — 4 April 1793 • Birthplace — Geneva, Switzerland • Died — 6 October 1860 • Place of death — Plainpalais, Switzerland • Occupation — Painter • Known for — Portraiture

Nancy Mérienne was born on 4 April 1793 in Geneva, Switzerland, to Jean-Pierre Soiron, a watchmaker and his wife, Suzanne Elisabeth Aimée Soiron. She led a discreet life and devoted herself to her art. She was known to travel to Switzerland, France and London, England. She remained single all her life and suffered from a hearing problem. Mérienne was a student of the painter Firmin Massot. Although she was known to paint bouquets of flowers and historical scenes, she primarily produced portraits, both painted and drawn (in oil, watercolor, pastel, pencil and using stump drawing). She was well-connected among Geneva's upper-class clientele and became a popular artist. She created several portraits of George Sand and her children (Maurice and Solange), and she drew a young Franz Liszt during his stay in Geneva in 1836. She also painted portraits of Tsar Alexander II and Tsar Nicholas I and worked for other Russian nobility. Firmin Massot painted the only known portrait of Mérienne in 1825. In 1846, Mérienne painted his portrait in return. Both works can now be found in the Museum of Art and History in Geneva.

• Salon of the Society of Arts, Geneva, 1820 • Salon of the Society of Arts, Geneva, 1823 • Exhibition of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts, Geneva, 1825 • Geneva Salon, 1826 • Bern Salon, 1830 • Geneva Salon, 1832 • Geneva Salon, 1837 • Lyon Salon, France, 1837 • Geneva Salon, 1849

• Illustration — Firmin Massot • Illustration — J. J. de Sellon • Illustration — Stanisław Rzewuski • Illustration — Mademoiselle Cécile Revilliod