The Mirror of Marie Bashkirtseff: Reflections About the Education of Women Art Students in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff (1919), a diary written in the mode of self-presentation, serves as a particular instance to vivify our understanding about the way women art students were viewed, and the type of art education they received in nineteenth century France. Marie Bashkirtseff's history, the genre of Victorian women's autobiography, art schools in the French Academic tradition, the Academie Julian, and women's issues in nineteenth century France are explored. It is concluded that even privileged women suffered societal constraints in the latter half of the nineteenth century and that women generally were not best served in respect to their art education.