his enigmatic portrait of Anna Bilinska in mourning is one of the best-loved exhibits at Bath’s Victoria Art Gallery, despite its sombre subject matter and monochrome palette. It is an arresting painting that quietly demands attention; the sitter’s aura of profound melancholy is both moving and intriguing. Bilinska was a talented Polish artist whose father had recently died when the portrait was painted in 1886. Dressed in deep mourning, she holds what might be a black feather fan on her lap. She met the British artist Emmeline Deane in Paris when they were both training at the celebrated Académie Julian. This was one of the few art schools in Europe that was open to female students in the 19th century. We don’t know anything about their relationship, but given the compassion evident in this painting, it’s fair to assume that artist and sitter were close. Bilinska studied and taught at the forward-thinking and innovative Parisian art school. She had ambitions to open a similar school for women in Poland, but died tragically young in 1893 from a heart condition, aged 36.