Charlotte Bonaparte

By Annabelle Sebastian

The Sisters Zénaïde and Charlotte Bonaparte, Jacques-Louis David (1821) Oil on canvas Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Open Content Program

Charlotte Bonaparte (1802-1839), an artist and the niece of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived in New Jersey in December of 1821.

Charlotte Bonaparte was the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon and the king of Naples and Spain. Charlotte Bonaparte had spent several years in exile in Brussels after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815. It was during this time that she began studying art under Jacques Louis David, the official court painter for Napoleon. In 1821, she joined her father at Point Breeze, New Jersey, a 1700 acre estate near Bordentown.

Bonaparte spent her time in New Jersey traveling, drawing, and painting. She produced several landscapes and portraits across various artistic mediums, including sepia, crayon, oil, and watercolor. In 1822, Bonaparte exhibited her first painting at the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts. In the following year, ten of her works were on display, including landscapes, portraits, and flower studies. In 1824, two more of her landscapes were on display. Today her works and the lithographs made of them are owned by various institutions, including the Princeton University Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bonaparte returned to Europe in 1824, in preparation for her marriage to her cousin, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in July of 1826.

Charlotte Bonaparte, “View of Lebanon,” 1824.
Courtesy, Ferris Olin Collection.

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References:

Burstyn, Joan N. 1990. “Charlotte Bonaparte”. Past and Promise, Lives of New Jersey Women. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54470337

Kinne, Clarence E. 1939. Facts and traditions: relating to Joseph Bonaparte, Annette Savage, Charles Joseph Geelhand Delafoille, Caroline Charlotte Bonaparte Benton, Zebulon Howell Benton, the Benton family. [Watertown, N.Y.]: [C.E. Kinne]. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31442789  

Letvin, Alexandra. “Recent Acquisition: A Self-Portrait by Charlotte Bonaparte.” Princeton University Art Museum. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/story/recent-acquisition-self-portrait-charlotte-bonaparte.

Lurie, Maxine N., and Marc Mappen. Encyclopedia of New Jersey. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=124913&site=ehost-live.

Suggested Citation:

Sebastian, Annabelle. “Charlotte Bonaparte.” New Jersey Women’s History, Rowan University Libraries, 2024. https://njwomenshistory.org/biographies/charlotte-bonaparte/.