Louise Jopling’s portraits commanded prices that few, if any, other British female artists achieved. Leighton, Burne-Jones and Tissot were her friends, as were Whistler and Millais, both of whom painted her portrait. Born Louise Goode, she exhibited under her married names; as Mrs Romer, she had accompanied her husband to Paris when he was was appointed private secretary to Baron Rothschild in 1865. The Baroness discovered her talent and advised her to take lessons with M. Chaplin. The year after her husband’s death in 1873 she married another artist to become Mrs Jopling. In this marriage she was the primary earner, which she found a heavy responsibility, necessitating constant production, regular sales and a continual search for commissions and clients. 

In 1879, despite her own illness and that of her son Percy, she produced eighteen pictures. In 1887 after the death of her second husband she became Mrs Rowe, but continued to exhibit as Mrs Jopling, the name under which she had achieved recognition. In 1901 she became one of the first women to be elected to the Royal Society of British Artists. She kept a fashionable Chelsea studio, designed by Burges, in which artists and actors mingled. It was at her house that, in response to a witticism of Whistler’s, Oscar Wilde remarked, ‘How I wish I had said that’ and Whistler replied, ‘You will, Oscar, you will’. She was an early supporter of women’s rights and established her own school for female painters. 

When this picture was shown in the Grosvenor Gallery, hosting the Society of British Pastellists, the reviews were fulsome:

'a splendid portrait (257) [sic - it was 250] by Mrs. Louise Jopling of herself in a red dress, relieved radiantly yet harmoniously against a primrose background, and holding a palette in her left hand'

Morning Post - Saturday 18 October 1890

'Mrs Louise Jopling, who has long made pastel drawing a special study, takes prominent position as an exhibitor with her own likeness, "Portrait of the Artist" (250), in which she pictures herself standing, palette and brushes in hand, before her easel. Mrs Jopling is wearing a red dress, the likeness is undeniably good, and she has that look of vivacious intelligence which is her distinguishing characteristic.'

The Queen - Saturday 1 November 1890

'The collection of drawings of British Pastellists may be said to have been somewhat of a new departure in art - an attempt to revive interest in a curious and not uninteresting branch of pictorial design. The galleries were not without some startlingly strong specimens of the draughtsman in coloured chalks, and some of the best were by women artists. Mrs. E. Stanhope Forbes's children playing at the old-fashioned game of ‘‘Oranges and Lemons" was wholly admirable; whilst the Polish painter, Miss Anna Bilinska, with her “Jeune Fille a la Fenetre,” and the “Portrait of the Artist,” by Mrs, Louise Jopling, were also valuable examples of the art those ladies were illustrating.'

London Daily Chronicle - Friday 26 December 1890

'Mrs Louise Jopling has surpassed herself in two portraits, 'Mabel' ... and (250) a striking and lifelike likeness of herself at work in her studio, clad in a Turkey red twill blouse'

Gentlewoman - 25 October 1890, p 24)

'...although not quite so successful as Mrs. Jopling's portrait of herself (250) in a red dress, which for galbe is unsurpassed by any work of the English pastellists.' 

Illustrated London News - 25 October 1890, p 526

'It is not necessary for me to attempt to describe Mrs. Jopling-Rowe's appearance, as the fame of her beauty has travelled far and wide, and her pretty, dark, piquant face is known to nearly every art lover in England. ... She always dresses in perfect taste. I do not mean by that expression that she follows the latest fashion, for she does nothing of the kind, having a style distinctly her own. She will buy an artistic-looking shawl or roll of some soft silk of a strange hue, which most people would call decidedly ugly ... She never wears what she calls "a dressmaker's dress," but always designs her own gowns from pictures which she unearths from old illustrated volumes, or copies them from prints, working in her own ideas as she goes along. ... Some little time ago I saw her in a most charming costume, which only one so pretty as herself could have worn. It was a brilliant red dress, richly embroidered with gold; and when I admired it she informed me that it was only an ordinary Indian shawl which she had divined would make a pretty evening gown. She looked like some bright tropical bird of beautiful plumage, and I wished that I possessed her talents that I might have asked her to sit for her portrait.' 

The Gentlewoman - 6 September 1890, p 302)