#ellenemmetrand — Public Fediverse posts
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"Woman Before the Mirror," Ellen Emmet Rand, 1925.
Rand (1875-1941) was an American illustrator and portraitist. Born in San Francisco, educated in Boston and New York, she started off as an illustrator for magazines like Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Weekly, and Vogue. She then traveled to London and Paris, and returned to New York in 1900 to paint full time.
A cousin to Henry and William James, as well as several other artists, she had connections to exploit, and she did a number of portraits of society figures, artists, and writers. Reportedly she started a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt but found it too difficult (constant interruptions) to complete. She did paint Franklin Roosevelt's official portrait, which is now missing from the National Archives. (Has anyone checked Mar-a-Lago?)
The textured work here is lovely, and instead of checking herself out, the lady is looking out at us, confronting the viewer with a certain self-assertion. She mixes new with old; the clothes and furniture are clearly 19th century, but the assertiveness of her gaze is modern.
Happy Portrait Monday!
From the Art Institute of Chicago.
#Art #EllenEmmetRand #PortraitMonday #Realism #WomenArtists #WomenInArt