From Emperors to Hoi Polloi: Portraits of an Era, 1851–1945

Painting, Self-Expression, 1934   
Minna (Wright) Citron (American, 1896–1991)
New York
Oil on board
Credit: The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, The Wolfsonian–Florida International University, Miami Beach
XX1989.95
Photo: Silvia Ros

Minna (Wright) Citron exhibited this painting in 1935 in her first major solo exhibition, Femininities, at the Midtown Galleries in New York. The exhibition proved to be a turning point for her professionally and personally as it articulated her own search for a new direction in her life. Her work at the time consisted of satirical glimpses into the world of women. She explained to the press, "All I try to do is hold a mirror to the unlovely facets of a woman's mind."

In this self-portrait, Citron presents herself slouched in a chair in front of her easel. From the window of her studio on New York's bustling Union Square, an American flag and a department store billboard signal the artist's desire to escape the world's distractions and concentrate on her artwork. The artist captured this moment of deep absorption by depicting herself with a furrowed brow in an unlady-like posture, with her knees splayed open to reveal her slip.

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