Marie Bashkirtseff, born Maria Bashkirtseva in 1858, was a Ukrainian and French artist, a master of genre painting; sculptor, and writer.

Summary of Maria Bashkirtseva

The artist’s legacy includes over 150 paintings and 200 drawings. Unfortunately, a significant portion of her work was lost during the 1917 Revolution and World War II. In Ukraine, only three of Bashkirtseva’s paintings remain, housed in art museums in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Sumy.

Biography of Maria Bashkirtseva

She was born in the village of Havrontsi, Poltava Governorate. She spent her childhood in the village of Chernyakivka. When her parents separated at age 12, she spent most of her youth traveling across Europe with her mother. They stayed for extended periods in Germany and along the Riviera before eventually settling in Paris.

Privately educated and gifted in music from a young age, she lost the opportunity for a singing career when illness damaged her voice. Resolving to pursue art instead, she studied painting at the Robert-Fleury studio and the Académie Julian in France.

Starting around the age of 13, Bashkirtseff began keeping a journal, which is likely what she is most renowned for today. The diary, first published in 1887 after the artist’s death, was the second diary by a woman ever published in France. Its release was an instant success.

The artist suffered from tuberculosis. She died in 1884 when she was only 25 years old. 

Maria Bashkirtseva’s Famous Paintings: A Glimpse into the Artist’s Soul

The artist created a remarkable, though relatively conventional, body of work during her brief life. Among Bashkirtseva’s original paintings are “The Meeting” (1884) and “In the Studio” (1881).

The artwork of Maria Bashkirtseva also includes such pieces as “Autumn” (1883), “Self-portrait with a Palette” (1880), “The Umbrella” (1883), and many others. 

In 1882, she created her iconic painting “Despair,” which now belongs to the collection of the Nykanor Onatskyi Regional Art Museum in Sumy. The artistic techniques in this painting are minimal yet rich in meaning and symbolism. The use of contre-jour—depicting the woman against the light of a window—enhances a sense of isolation from her surroundings, amplifying the feeling of helplessness and inevitability. Maria Bashkirtseva’s painting for sale is available at auction on the UFDA website. 

Maria Bashkirtseva’s Art Style

As a painter, Bashkirtseva drew inspiration from her friend Jules Bastien-Lepage's admiration for realism and naturalism. While Bastien-Lepage was inspired by nature, Bashkirtseva looked to the urban environment for her subject matter.

She created an impressive, though relatively conventional, body of work. Her painted and graphic works are mainly genre and portrait pieces that reveal the world of Parisian suburbs, depicting the everyday lives of working women, servants, homeless children, and schoolchildren. A smaller portion includes landscapes, still lifes, and rare works on biblical or historical themes. 

Her talent was immediately recognized; her works won numerous medals and awards at exhibitions, and French newspapers and magazines praised her enthusiastically. Bashkirtseva's art was highly esteemed by Anatole France and Émile Zola.