Minerva Chapman Self-Portrait

In 1906, the year she created this drawing, Minerva Chapman, who was raised in Chicago and later moved to Paris to pursue her career as an artist, became one of the first women elected to France’s Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (National Society of Fine Arts). The sensitive self-portrait suggests an air of animated reserve as Chapman firmly asserts her identity as a professional artist. She seems to testify to her work ethic with her furrowed brow and the slight shadows beneath her eyes, and her seriousness is evident in her mastery of modeling and her drawing technique. The portrayal also recalls a phrase that appears in one of her notebooks from around this time: “Work. Ambition. Perseverance. Determination.”