Often credited as Poland’s first renowned female artist, Anna Bilińska created masterful portraits, still lifes, genre scenes, and landscapes. She grew up between Kiev and Warsaw, and studied at a music conservatory before enrolling at a school for painting. Soon afterwards, she accompanied a friend on travels through Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, and northern Italy, where at museums and churches she discovered Rembrandt, Rubens, Michelangelo, and Donatello. Her travels eventually brought her to Paris, where she studied at the Academie Julian. Bilińska remained in France for most of her life, and only returned to Warsaw before her death. “The Artist” explores Bilińska’s life, art, and rise to prominence. —E.C.