A dynamic 1948 spot drawing by Esther Pressoir

A Century of The New Yorker at the New York Public Library attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-cent… #EstherPressoir #TheNewYorker #NYPL

With a cartoon by Robert Day and then a spot drawing of a mailbox by Esther Pressoir on the first page of "Butterflies" by #VladiimirNabokov

William James, Jr.'s, Copy of Conclusive Evidence by Vladimir Nabokov attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2026/03/willia… #RobertDay #EstherPressoir #TheNewYorker

A spot drawing of a mailbox by Esther Pressoir

William James, Jr.'s, Copy of Conclusive Evidence by Vladimir Nabokov attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2026/03/willia… #EstherPressoir #TheNewYorker

Made around 1930, this self-portrait by American artist Esther Pressoir places modern self-fashioning at the center of the composition. It’s not a flattering display, but a clear-eyed record of mood, posture, and control. Smoking, then a charged marker of sophistication and transgression, becomes a small, deliberate gesture, echoed by looping smoke and the painting’s circling brushstrokes. The young woman artist with light skin crouches low, her body folded into a compact, almost protective pose. She has short, dark, softly waved hair and strong brows. Her eyes look out from under heavy lids, almost meeting ours with a steady, unsentimental calm. Her lips are painted a vivid red, and warm peach and pink tones model her face and bare shoulder. A thin-strap, sleeveless garment (taupe and dusty rose, edged with quick red lines) wraps her torso and falls in loose folds around her legs. One arm hooks over a raised knee, while the other hand extends downward, holding a small cigarette between long fingers. To the right, pale rings of smoke rise and fade into a turbulent field of grays, browns, and sandy beige. The background is built from broad, circular sweeps of paint, like wind spiraling around her figure. At the bottom edge, a black heeled shoe peeks out, anchoring the pose. Across the surface, the brushwork stays sketchy, energetic, and layered so the Pressoir’s outline seems simultaneously drawn and dissolving. Pressoir, born in Philadelphia and raised in Woonsocket, and a 1923 Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) graduate, was in her late twenties at the time she painted this presentation of herself. The work shows an artist testing how frank a woman’s image can be. She folds inward, yet refuses to look away and claims the right to be seen on her own terms.

“Self Portrait (Smoking)” by Esther Pressoir (American) - Oil on canvas / c. 1930 - RISD Museum (Providence, Rhode Island) #WomenInArt #EstherPressoir #Pressoir #RISD #RISDMuseum #SelfPortrait #WomenSmoking #artText #art #BlueskyArt #RhodeIslandSchoolofDesign #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists

Choose 20 paintings that have stayed with you or influenced you — one painting per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just paintings.

16: #estherpressoir #throughandorra

#ArtSky🎨 #art #paintings

✨ #WomensHistoryMonth #AmericanWomenArtists ✨
From saintly #FrancescaAlexander (1837–1917) to effervescent #EstherPressoir (1902-1986)...
Check out our books on #WomenArtists – all 20% off with code WHM25 until the end of March!
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1) Coming up on Friday, September 20 / 12-1 pm

#EstherPressoir at RISD
Faculty Forum

At the RISD Museum Galleries, Suzanne Scanlan will share insights into Pressoir’s years as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design (1919-24). risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-...

A woodcut, all in black and white, of a mountain scene at sunset. At the bottom center, very small, is a figure of a woman walking a bicycle with flat tires along the path toward the sunset.

Celebrating #PrideMonth with a linocut print by #EstherPressoir, whose art embodied selfhood and women’s sexuality at a pivotal moment in social history.

Esther Pressoir, Through Andorra, c. 1928, RISD; from "Esther Pressoir: A Modern Woman's Painter,"
www.lundhumphries.com/products/est...