Marie-Agnes Barrère was the daughter of the art critic André Barrère. During the 1970s, he wrote particularly perceptive texts on the works of the painter Jean Puy and of sculptors such as Paul Cornet, Charles Auffret, and René Aberlenc. He exercised his powers as a critic with the same care and diligence as Claude Roget-Marx, Juliette Darle, or George Besson.

In the March 16, 1972 issue of l'Amateur d'art,[1] he commented on the portrait of his daughter, which was, at the time, in the running for the Paul-Louis Weiller Portrait Prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts: "Auffret has put all of his sensitive authority to work in order to go beyond the strict physiognomy of a young girl at an awkward age to show the promises of a femininity already developing in her inner life. He has taken his place, independently, among the lineage of the masters too often forgotten but essential to French art, such as Carpeaux, Dalou, and Schnegg."

Of three hundred sculpted portraits submitted to the jury, only fifty-four were allowed to run. The Bust of Marie-Agnes Barrère was one of the ones most appreciated by the public and the press. Nonetheless, it was not Charles Auffret, but his elder Paul Cornet, who took the prize.