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An Art Student of Paris
Martha S. Baker (American, 1871–1911)
1899
- Medium
- watercolor on ivorine
- Classification
- Portrait Miniature
- Dimensions
- Framed: 5.2 x 4.6 cm (2 1/16 x 1 13/16 in.); Unframed: 4.9 x 4.1 cm (1 15/16 x 1 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Baker
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The sitter’s identity is unknown, but she was likely a student of Martha Baker, who was living and teaching in Paris in 1899. Demand for Baker’s portrait miniatures was so great that she resigned from teaching to keep up with commissions. The artist’s obituary in the New York Times stated that she was “the world’s foremost miniature painter.” In this example, the sitter’s shoulders seem to fade into the pale background, emphasizing the similarity between her skin and the material upon which her likeness is painted.
