Portrait of an Artist
c. 1735
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
101.7 × 82 cm (40 × 32 5/16 in.); Framed: 126.3 × 106.9 × 10.2 cm (49 11/16 × 42 1/16 × 4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
61741
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Professional women artists were rare in the 1730s. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which controlled artistic education and competitive art exhibitions called salons, was closed to women. Instead, artistic careers were traditionally limited to those born into families of artists, who could be trained by a male relative. The subject of this portrait probably belonged to such a clan. The presentation here emphasizes the sitter’s luxurious attire, including a swansdown scarf and a damas...