Sampler 1 (Lemoine)

2024

Hand woven dyed Lyocell, satin lining, polyester thread 

Reinterpretation of the dress in Self-Portrait with Straw Hat and Palette by Marie-Elisabeth Lemoine, 1795

What does it mean to dress yourself to be remembered?  Self-Portrait with Straw Hat and Palette by Marie-Elisabeth Lemoine is one of three oil paintings by a woman before 1912 that the Allen Memorial Art Museum has in its collection. Not much is known about Lemoine, a French painter whose name is often confused with that of pastellist Élisabeth Lemoine and whose work is often eclipsed by that of her sisters. One has to imagine that in setting out to capture her likeness, Lemoine must have some idea that this image of her would exist after she was gone. But could she have guessed that hundreds of years later her face would look out at a museum some 4,000 miles away from her home?