Anna Bilińska is a polish painter that lived at a time when women were not able to study at state universities; that’s why she had to study painting in private schools. In 1889, at the World Exhibition in Paris, she presented her „Self-Portrait”, which earned her a silver medal and the opportunity to exhibit more of her works at subsequent exhibitions. It was the artist’s great success which opened her doors to a European career.
A self-portrait with painting brushes has become her flagship work and today is considered a symbolic manifesto of the generation of women who fought for their rightful place in the world of art.