Elisabeth Fuss-Amoré

Élisabeth Bégard was born in 1879 into a family of jewelers in Paris. Her father died when she was three years old and she was ultimately raised by her grandparents in Belgium.

Little is known about her early years, but she returned to Paris and married Gustave Fuss-Amoré, writer, in 1904. She was active in progressive literary and artistic circles in the city. In 1910 Élisabeth became involved in the Midinette Labor Actions. The strikes were due to widespread occupational segregation, lower wages for
females, and the perception of their employment as a temporary phase in their lives. Élisabeth was a vocal spokesperson for pay equality between the genders.

From the early 1920s she exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon d’Automne and at Montparnasse cafés that were the hubs for avant-garde artists. Élisabeth became known for her still lifes and portraits. Her work reflected the spirit of experimentation and social engagement that defined Parisian modernism at that time. She died in 1959.

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