Woman artist giving a drawing lesson (Self-portrait)

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Paris in 1797, Louise-Adéone Drölling showed artistic aptitude from a young age and was trained as a painter and draughtsperson by the age of 13.  Drölling began her career beside her father Martin and her older brother Michel-Martin. The influence of her father, who was a genre painter, led her to be interested in depicting interior scenes as illustrations of daily life.

Drölling was not a prolific artist but was highly regarded in her lifetime – in 1827 and 1831 her work was exhibited in the Salon des Amis des Arts and she received a gold medal for the work Interior with young woman tracing a flower (now in the Saint Louis Art Museum). Drölling’s date of death is unknown but she died before 30 April 1836 as this was the date of her inventaire apres deces (inventory after death). Only a small number of works were listed at the time of her death and in some cases her works have been misattributed to her father or brother.

Tansy Curtin, Curator of International Art Pre-1980

ESSAY: Woman giving a drawing lesson

This work depicts a scene typical of early nineteenth century French taste. Two young women can be seen in a warm interior decorated in Empire fashion, lit by sunlight softly emanating from the window on the left side of the composition. The scene shows one woman teaching another to draw and is thought to be a self-portrait asserting the artist’s skill and merit as teacher.