The Interior of an Atelier of a Woman Painter

Artist: Marie Victoire Lemoine (French, 1754–1820)

Original Dimensions: 45 7/8" x 35"

Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

About Artwork: (1789) "Although she painted this work in 1789, Lemoine could not exhibit it at the prestigious Paris Salon until 1796, when post-Revolutionary reforms greatly expanded women artists’ access to the official art world. The title suggests an ideal or generic depiction of women artists, but those close to Lemoine probably recognized a self-portrait with her sister Marie Denise Villers, who was also a painter. Lemoine’s skills in still life and portraiture, categories in which women most often trained, are readily visible, but a history painting—the highest category in the academic system and usually considered in this period as ill-suited to women—is underway on the easel in the scene." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)