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 recognized a self-portrait with her sister Marie Elisabeth, 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.
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