Between 1885-1890, American portraitist Cecilia Beaux posed for a series of seven photographs in her three different Philadelphia studios that she shared with her cousin Emma Leavitt. While images of male artists’ studios were popular during the Gilded Age, images of women artists in their studios were quite rare. This thesis examines events and influences in Beaux’s life that likely led to the creation of these photographs. I argue that Beaux played a significant role in constructing the photographs, purposefully arranging herself and her studio in ways that would serve as advertisement for her work and allow her to more fully compete with male artists of her time.