Gezicht op Hôtel de Lesdiguière 1850 - 1940

Gabrielle-Marie Niel made this print of the Hôtel de Lesdiguière using etching, a printmaking technique, sometime between 1840 and 1940. Niel came of age during a period of significant social change for women in France. The July Monarchy saw increased, though still limited, access to education and opportunities for women in the arts. Yet, it was still difficult for female artists to be taken seriously. Niel's choice of architectural subject matter is interesting in this context. The print offers a view into a private courtyard, a traditionally feminine space. However, Niel’s rendering of the space with the stark lines of the architecture has a decidedly masculine feel. The work shows how women artists of the time wrestled with societal expectations. They developed unique visual languages to engage with and subtly subvert established gender norms.