Self-Portrait with Palette, Painter and Faun
- Artist: Florine Stettheimer (American, 1871–1944)
- Date: c. 1915
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Location: Avery Library, New York
Description
Florine Stettheimer’s dreamy, theatrical paintings range from surrealistic, symbol-laden scenes to diaristic portrayals of upper-crust lifestyles in the interwar era. Stettheimer is also credited as one of the first women to ever paint a full-scale nude self-portrait; her subversive feminist spirit infuses much of her work. The artist’s loose, liquid brushstrokes and soft, washed-out, Fauvist color palettes add a fantastical dimension to her compositions, which variously feature floral arrangements and vibrant, intricately arranged nature and party scenes viewed from distorted perspectives. Stettheimer, who also wrote poetry and created set designs, became an important member and supporter of New York’s avant-garde: She ran influential salons with her sister, which drew artists including Marcel Duchamp and Georgia O’Keeffe. Her work has sold for six figures at auction and belongs in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others.