Portrait of a Woman 

This is Marie Bashkirtseff’s "Portrait of a Woman." Marie was a Ukrainian-born artist who lived in Paris, and who died very young, in 1884, at the age of 25. Bashkirtseff lived during a time when opportunities for women artists were scarce, yet she relentlessly pursued her passion, challenging the gender norms of her era. Here we see a young woman, possibly a self-portrait, cloaked in a large, dark fur, topped with a bonnet. Bashkirtseff painted the world as she saw it, and although she had a privileged background, she was deeply aware of class divisions. "I love to be with the people," she wrote in her diary, "as much as I detest fashionable society." The woman's gaze is direct, with a hint of melancholy. As a viewer, we are invited into an intimate encounter with this young artist, and with the struggles she endured navigating her identity, her artistic ambitions and her place in society.