Flora

Abbema learned his trade under the tutelage of great painters such as Chaplin, Henner and Carolus-Duran. He exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français and won an honorable mention in 1881, a bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle as well as the Légion d'honneur in 1906. Following the great success of his 1876 portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, he was commissioned to paint many of the famous personalities of his time such as the Don Pedro, Emperor of Brasil. His allegorical murals painted for the VII, X and XX arrondissements, the Hôtel de Ville, the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre and the Palace of the Governor of Dakar are still in existance.