A Modest Woman

Eighteenth-century societal expectations posed a social conundrum for female painters. In order to be an acclaimed painter, one must be praised for their talent; however, to be a virtuous woman, one must be modest above all things. In a 1783 memo, the French Arts Minister explicitly told Louis XVI that women could not be included in the Royal Academy’s classes because such occurrences would jeopardize female modesty. Labille-Guiard and other female artists in her time had to navigate a balance between praise and modesty. 

Labille-Guiard's miniature self portrait in 1774.

At fourteen years old, Labille-Guiard mastered miniatures. Miniatures were respectable enough as a feminine past-time, so long as the miniatures women painted were decorative and upheld their modesty.

In 1774, Labille-Guiard showcased her first miniature, Self-Portrait, which defied the status quo for female miniaturists. She was the subject, and she was magnificent. She wore richly textured clothing and was accompanied by painting tools. Self-Portrait displayed Labille-Guiard’s ability to paint textures and that she was a serious artist. This was a direct defiance of the standards for women painters in the eighteenth-century and a preemptive glimpse into her later art.