Visibility as Survival: Romaine Brooks and Portraiture

A portrait from the Smithsonian American Art Museum features a pale female figure in masculine clothing — it’s not the way one might expect. The figure, a member of the artist counterculture in Paris Pre-World War II, is Romaine Brooks. This portrait, along with Brooks’s biography helps us to remember her legacy as a bohemian artist. Brooks' story, despite her inherited economic privilege, helps us understand the struggles of LGBTQIA artists during her lifetime.

Growing up in a traditional and challenging home, Brooks felt deeply alienated from both others and herself. Reflecting on her harrowing experiences, Brooks rejected the feminine attire she was forced to wear. As an adult, she adopted trousers and other masculine styles of clothing. She would later use these experiences as inspiration after moving to Paris from Italy in the early 20th century. After unexpectedly inheriting her mother's fortune, Brooks used that freedom to continue her artistic practice. She later met writer and future life partner Natalie Barney, who invited her to join Barney's vibrant sapphic salon and later became her romantic partner. In this community, Brooks met women who captured her complexity, and Barney wrote beautiful poems celebrating Brooks as both a survivor and defier of gendered norms.

Brooks' story illustrates how self-expression can be transformative. Inspired by her move to Paris and the supportive community she discovered there, Brooks found a home that nurtured her art and allowed her to embrace her authentic self.