With his sublime painting La petite Denise, painted in 1889, Théo Van Rysselberghe entered the Metropolitan Museum in New York. By an amusing coincidence, Denise Maréchal was his niece by marriage, and also the niece of Georges Lemmen, who painted at least one portrait of her.

A few years later, Théo Van Rysselberghe painted another portrait of Denise Maréchal. This one went to another major American museum, the National Gallery in Washington, where it is on display thanks to a private loan.