Under the Apple Trees

A Life Between Continents

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Júlia de Cistello was a Portuguese-Brazilian painter who navigated the artistic circles of both South America and Europe. The daughter of Boaventura Gonçalves Roque and Maria Luisa de Labourdonnay, she was raised in an environment where music and the arts were central to her education. Alongside her sister Isabel and her sister Emília, she exhibited at the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1879. Following her marriage to Manuel Antônio Gonçalves Roque, she eventually returned to Portugal, where her husband was appointed the 1st Viscount of Sistelo.

After being widowed in 1886, her career saw significant development as she financed her own studies at the Académie Julian in Paris. Enrolling in 1892 and again in 1900, she studied under Gabriel Ferrier, William Bouguereau, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Her presence in Paris was noted in the French newspaper Le Figaro between 1901 and 1914.

Exhibitions and Notable Works

Júlia de Cistello was among the first Portuguese-Brazilian women artists to exhibit at the Parisian Salons. Her participation included:

One of her most recognized works is Sous les Pommiers (1912), also known as Under the Apple Trees, which is held in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nice. Other works from her catalog include City in Snow.