Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz (1857 – 1893) – Art by Women

Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz

(8 Dec 1857 – 18 Apr 1893) was a Polish painter, known for her portraits. A representative of Realism, she spent much of her artistic life in Paris. Life. She was born Anna Bilińska, the daughter of a Polish physician: “ma temperament kozaczy, ale serce” – Of her background, she joked that she “ha[d] a Cossack’s temperament but a Polish heart“.

In 1889, she presented her Self-Portrait at the Exposition Universelle in Paris for which she was awarded a silver medal and was granted the right to exhibit her works out of competition during future editions of the event. This proved to be her first major international success.

In 1889, her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

In 1891, they were displayed at an annual international exhibition in Berlin where she was awarded a gold medal

Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz, Self-Portrait with Apron and Brushes, 1887

She lived in France until 1892, when she married Bohdanowicz, and took his name. After their marriage, they returned to Warsaw, where she intended to open a Parisian-style art school for women, but fell ill with a heart condition and died a year later on 8 April 1893, aged just 38. via Wikipedia (all quotes)