Painters Mentioned Until Chapter 7

        The painters that are mentioned in the story are fictional. Julie was one of the first to be mentioned, as Valentine's death was a catalyst for her painting career. Julie painted a portrait of Valentine in a white dress with a blue ribbon on her neck with the sun shining and pink roses being present in the painting. In the years Virginie and her mother left Louisiana, Julie became a professional artist because a sugar broker admired the portrait of Valentine and asked her to paint his family. Julie got more commissions as a result and was able to come to France. 

        Julie also introduced Virginie to Sophie Tranchevent and Filomena Seguette, two women painters she met at the Louvre. Both painters were held in high regard and regularly exhibited their work at the Fine Arts Salon, a bazaar of new art that was held at an exhibition hall that made or broke artists. Filomena was more fleshed out as the author provided a vivid description on how she looked like a man due to being the most famous woman painter in Paris. It was also mentioned how Filomena specialized in enormous canvases  that depicted the dramatic history of France.

        In chapter seven, Filomena and Julie got into an argument due to Impressionism becoming more popular during this time period. The public was hostile to this type of art and Filomena and Sophie felt the same about Julie's painting of a woman strolling through a garden, calling the colors too shrill and the technique sloppy. However, Julie refused to paint another angel or king again. Filomena felt as though Julie was rejecting her and her methods when it came to painting and Virginie noted that she looked crushed that Julie was changing. 

According to another blog post, Filomena Seguette was loosely based
on Rosa Bonheur, a French artist:
http://bauerbower.blogspot.com/2013/01/portrait-of-madame-x.html