Hung inside the gallery dedicated to Fashioning the Woman Artist, Saint-Aubin’s Portrait of an Artist Drawing a Landscape in her Sketchbook (1831) belongs to an important tradition in which women painters pictured women making art. As part of major political changes that occurred during the French Revolution, women were allowed to exhibit in the French Salon, the nation’s premier annual art exhibition, for the first time. [...]

Following Saint-Aubin’s formal artistic training, she exhibited in 17 Salons over the course of her career, with primarily portraits and history paintings – two of the most popular genres at that time. Her reputation steadily grew as more people saw her work and by 1831 or earlier, she began to offer private lessons to students. The sitter in this painting could be one of her students, or a professional peer of Saint-Aubin’s.