Portrait of Anne Vallayer-Coster
1804
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1804
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
This painting shows Anne Vallayer-Coster seated in a simple gray dress. The artist used soft shadows to give her face gentle depth. Notice how the background stays plain so your eyes stay on her face. Dumont painted it in 1804, years after Vallayer-Coster’s famous still lifes. She was one of the first women to join France’s top art school. Look for the same quiet focus in Dumont’s portraits at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
