Romaine Brooks

Romaine Brooks was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portraiture and used a subdued tonal palette keyed to the color gray. Brooks ignored contemporary artistic trends such as Cubism and Fauvism, drawing on her own original aesthetic inspired by the works of Charles Conder, Walter Sickert, and James McNeill Whistler. Her subjects ranged from anonymous models to titled aristocrats. She is best known for her images of women in androgynous or masculine dress, including her self-portrait of 1923, which is her most widely reproduced work.

1 May 1874

Born on the same birth date (1 May 1874): Paul Van Asbroeck

Born on the same birth day (1 May): Cecilia Beaux • Frederick Sandys • Guido Gezelle • Hugo Alfvén • Human Tornado • Jacob Gordin • Jay Reatard • Kate Smith • Marcel Rajman • Mark W. Clark • Olaf Thon • Peter Lax • Ray Parker Jr. • Ryan Mathews (American football) • Tommy Robredo • Victoria Monét • Yiannis Ritsos

Born in the same month (May 1874): Clemens von Pirquet • D. F. Malan • Ernest Duchesne • François Coty • G. K. Chesterton • George Sheldon (diver) • Gilbert Jessop • Howard Carter • Paul Van Asbroeck • Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (1874–1878) • Thomas Bavin • Vagn Walfrid Ekman