Lady Artist

Peggy Bacon, Lady Artist, 1925, drypoint on paper, plate: 6 x 4 in. (15.3 x 10.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baum in memory of Edith Gregor Halpert, 1971.313

Artwork Details

Title: Lady Artist
Artist: Peggy Bacon
Date: 1925
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: plate: 6 x 4 in. (15.3 x 10.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baum in memory of Edith Gregor Halpert
Mediums Description: drypoint on paper
Classifications: Graphic Arts
Print
Subjects: Architecture Interior — studio
Architecture Interior — detail — window
Animal — cat
Object — art object — drawing
Portrait female — Bacon, Peggy — full length
Portrait female — Bacon, Peggy — self-portrait
Occupation — art — artist
Object Number: 1971.313
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1971.313

Artwork Description

To the chagrin of her struggling artist parents, Peggy Bacon moved to New York City in 1914 to pursue an artistic career. She studied painting at the Art Students League, but her primary interest was printmaking. The League offered no printmaking courses, so Bacon taught herself and became an expert in drypoint. A self-portrait, Lady Artist shows Bacon at work in a cramped apartment/studio. Immersed in her sketching (likely of the cat at her feet), she is unaware of the mouse behind her, the spider inching toward her head, and the neighbors watching from the windows of an adjacent building. Through this comical scene, Bacon pokes fun at artists, including herself, and their intense dedication to their work.