The Lady with a Fan, The Artist's Wife

Roslin employs a restrained chiaroscuro, using strong contrasts of light and shadow to model the face and hands, while the surrounding darkness recedes. The fine rendering of the fan’s ornamentation and the texture of the red dress demonstrate his precise brushwork and command of oil paint.

First exhibited at the 1769 Salon in the Louvre, the work later appeared in an inventory from Österbybruk under the curious title “Portrait of the One‑Eyed Woman.” It entered the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, where it is currently displayed under the name The Lady with the Fan, The Artist’s Wife.

Created during Roslin’s Parisian period, the portrait reflects the period’s taste for refined portraiture that combined personal likeness with fashionable costume. The Bolognese dress and fan align with contemporary trends in courtly attire, while the subdued setting underscores the sitter’s individuality.

The painting was reproduced on Swedish postage stamps in the 1972 series dedicated to Gustavian art, indicating its continued recognition as a representative example of eighteenth‑century Swedish portraiture.