Young Woman Powdering Herself

The voluptuous women represented here is the twenty-year-old Madeleine Knobloch, Seurat's lover. She may have been pregnant with their child at this time. Although Madeleine later referred to this painting as "My Portrait", the artist himself chose the generic title it retains today. Seurat kept his relationship with artist's model Knobloch secret. His relationship to the sitter was concealed when it was exhibited in 1890. Before the painting was publicly shown, it is believed that the frame on the wall depicted a mirror or a self-portrait, showing Seurat himself. On the advice of a friend, Seurat painted it over.