Resumen de Self-Promotion in Adélaïde Labille-Guiard's 1785 "Self-Portrait with Two Students"
The monumental Self-Portrait with Two Students that French academician Adélaide Labille-Guiard (1749–1803) exhibited at the 1785 Salon manipulated the contradictions and controversies that defined the era's professional female artists and, through its calculated transgressions, won the approbation of critics, Salon-goers, and elite patrons. Influenced by diverse sources, ranging from old master traditions to contemporary fashion plates, the work presented Labille-Guiard as a protean figure-both an ambitious portraitist and a stand-in for fashionable sitters. This calibrated ambivalence propelled LabilleGuiard to new heights of social and professional success.
