Self Portrait at the Easel

This self-portrait from 1929 depicts a young woman artist at her easel, in the process of painting what looks to be another figure. We see her in profile, engrossed in her work, wearing a bright blue artists smock on with her palette balanced on her lap. The vibrant colours from her paint palette have made their way onto her smock, reflecting the prioritising of her work over neatness and appearance. Coats and hats hang on the wall in the background, creating a sense of intimacy and implying that the scene may be taking place in a classroom setting- an impression supported by the top corner of another canvas peeking out of the left-hand side of the image.

Though we have been unable to identify the artist, this self-portrait remains a reflection of the period in which it was painted. The 1920s had seen steps forward in women’s rights as well as the growing presence of women in the art world. In 1924, women were involved in selecting works for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and, in 1928, women were granted voting rights on the same terms of men. At the Slade School of Fine Art, where this artist may well have studied, female students often outnumbered their male counterparts. However, despite these advances, the societal expectation that women should abandon painting to manage a household and raise children remained. Many talented female graduates were forced to leave the professional art world once they married and those who were able to continue producing art often did so under their married name. This may well have been the fate of this particular artist, resulting in her identity being lost.