La Marquise
ca. 1927
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney
Accession Number
1966.111.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
**La Marquise** is a captivating drawing by Alice Pike Barney, created around 1927 and now housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Barney (1857–1931), a trailblazing American artist and arts patron from Washington, D.C., was renowned for her Impressionist-influenced portraits that captured the elegance of high society. This bust portrait of an aristocrat, titled *La Marquise* (" Marquise"), reflects her fascination with European nobility, likely inspired by her travels and studies in Paris earlier in her career. Executed as a drawing, the work showcases Barney's skillful use of line an...