Since the 19 th century and romanticism, the "singularity regime" (Nathalie Heinich)-which highlights the vocation and achievements of the individual creator-informs the artist figure. Recently, as if echoing this romantic imagery, the representation of the artist as an entrepreneur has been more and more put forward in the artistic sector itself, including in art schools and the creative industries. At the same time, the model of the artist as a worker (Pierre-Michel Menger), as part of competitive artistic fields (Pierre Bourdieu) and as embedded in collaborative "art worlds" (Howard Becker), stresses the competitive as well as the collective and collaborative dimension of artistic creation. Who exactly are visual artists in Switzerland today? What is or are the self-representation(s) of contemporary visual artists? What are their socio-demographic profiles-notably in terms of gender-and their link to professional or personal trajectories and positions? Do artists manage to live from their artistic production? To what extent are they integrated into the artistic market? And how do they define themselves? This contribution draws on a national inquiry with a quantitative online questionnaire on more than 450 artists in the visual field living and/ or working in Switzerland. The results outline the professional contours of today's visual artists, their novelties and permanencies, in a field structured by three poles-market logics, institutional support and non-integration. It highlights the strong role of the gender variable, as well as the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes that characterise todays artists' self-perception and condition.

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