Born
Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr in either
Dublin or
Brussels, she studied art as a child. In the 1830s, she studied with
François-Joseph Navez. As well as portraiture, she painted religious and historical scenes such as
Our Lady Appearing to the Oppressed, which hangs in the Church of the Holy Family in
Schaerbeek. She married successful sculptor
Guillaume Geefs in 1836. She worked on commissions for the Belgian royal family, including several portraits of Queen
Louise-Marie. Her
triptych, ''La Vie d'Une Femme: La Piété, l'Amour et la Douleur
(The Life of a Woman: Pity – Love – Sorrow
), was an influence on Charlotte Brontë in her autobiographical novel Villette'', set in Brussels. On her death in 1883, the
Royal Library of Belgium purchased a large collection of her works. She was the sister of Irish engraver
Erin Corr. ==References==