Jinsol Kim
Assignment 1
Idea of the Portrait
Shamoon Zamir
Madame Pompadour at her Tambour Frame: Ideal Figure vs. Likeness
According to Shearer West, a portrait is “a work of art that represents a unique individual”. West elaborates on the implications of this definition of a portrait, introducing the dilemma of the painter, who may strive to illustrate either or both the ideal figure, or a likeness of the sitter. Jean Germain Drouais’ resolution to such a dilemma can be observed in the painting, Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame, as he struggles to portray both the femininity of the ideal woman in the 1760s, while conveying the more present, aged and unique characteristics of the lady that captured King Louis XV’s heart.
The feminine qualities of Madame de Pompadour in her portrait are much easier to highlight when compared with the masculine qualities of the portrait of Comte de Vandreuil, also painted by Drouais. Donned in a strong deep blue, a color that symbolizes authority, the Count’s image is captured mid-movement, which indicates his active role in society. This fact is reiterated by the gloves and hat that rest on the deep, red chair behind him. He is able to resume his manly duties at any moment. The armor by his feet and the maps suggest his gallant involvement in the military the order and strictness of which are
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represented in the straight lines of the maps, the lining on the walls, and the wooden planks on the floor. The intersecting diagonals of his torso and the map that he is pulling towards himself form a ‘V’ that emphasize his confident presence, which is accentuated by his direct gaze towards the viewer. There is also a ‘V’ structure in the painting of Madame de Pompadour, formed by the billowing curtain and her bookshelf. However, she is portrayed in softer and more delicate shades of red, white, and green. In her powdered face, rosy cheeks, and rouged lips, she is posed comfortably on a plush-looking chair in a domestic setting, engaged in a domestic activity – the epitome of a lady of this time. Her posture suggests an extent of comfort that would require her effort to rise from her chair to leave the room, were someone to summon her, demonstrating a woman’s traditionally domestic and passive role. Unlike the portrait of the Comte de Vandreuil, this one is elaborately decorated with floral patterns on the chairs and dress, the stripes on the two bows, and the details on the golden lining of the furniture. These intricacies are conveyed with irregular curves that underscore her femininity and contrast vividly with the straight lines of the previously mentioned painting. However, despite the references to Madame de Pompadour’s conformity to the standards of beauty and femininity of France in the 1700s, Drouais implies her uniqueness in this portrait. A closer look at the wall behind the curtain reveals that there are indeed straight lines in this painting that are as subtle as her “effeminate” traits. Books fill her dark green shelf behind her, and the masculine symbol of a bull protrudes out of the table that holds her embroidery material. Madame de Pompadour looks exhaustedly but proudly back at her viewer as if to express satisfaction with a hint of an ambitious character. Her gaze immediately envelops the viewer in curiosity about the life of the subject of the portrait. Madame de Pompadour, the chief mistress to King Louis XV, was born into a bourgeoisie family, as Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson to an allegedly promiscuous mother, who ensured that Jeanne-Antoinette would have the best education. At one point, she participated in the Club de l’Entresol, a think-tank for politics and economics, which was otherwise exclusively male. She was married when Louis XV noticed her at a hunt, and consequently made her his mistress in 1745. It was then that she was bestowed the title Marquise de Pompadour with an estate and coat of arms in order to be presented at court. She is known for having been exceptional at entertaining the king with her artistic talents, exhibited in the portrait as the theatrical red curtain and mandolin on the floor, and intelligence, as demonstrated by the books behind her. Her influence on Louis XV is legendary. Five years later, their sexual relationship ended, but she remained his closest confidante, who would still entertain, comfort, and even advise him until her death. Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame by Drouais was the last portrayal of Madame Pompadour, who died before the painting was completed. Therefore, this portrait provides a valuable, retrospective insight to her life. Many of the objects in this portrait seem at first to refer to the shallower aspects of her personality, but have been placed intentionally to communicate that Madame Pompadour’s youth has past. For example, because it may be interpreted as merely a representation of her talent as an actress, the curtain’s color must be given more attention. The faded red is an acknowledgement of the fact that Madame de Pompadour is no longer the beautiful young girl that she once was. She has aged to the extent that her skin folds gently at her chin and her eyes display fatigue. Madame de Pompadour no longer wears any jewelry, as if to reluctantly accept her bare, aging physique. In a meek attempt to appeal her sexual charm and reminisce of the lust the king once had for her, she sits on her chair with her legs spread. Inès, her beloved puppy, looks towards her, supporting its mistress’ reminder of the public attention to her beauty that she once enjoyed in her prime, but the juxtaposition of its black fur with her white dress enunciates the contrast between its youth and her senescence. In addition, when the bull on the side of her table is observed carefully, it resembles a human. This implies that the figure is a representation of the Minotaur, a part man and part bull, Greek mythological creature that demanded young men and women as sacrifice. The symbolism refers to the way Madame de Pompadour devoted her youth to the king. The Minotaur now carries Madame de Pompadour’s materials on his back, as the king still strongly supports his former-mistress. Beautiful, charming, and intelligent enough to woo the king, Madame de Pompadour was once the ideal woman in society.
However, the Madame de Pompadour that sat before Drouais was nearing her death. Drouais managed to grasp her ideal at the height of Madame Pompadour’s beauty as well as her chubbier, more weathered likeness by capturing her past and present in a single frame. In the last portrayal of the once beautiful Madame Pompadour, her eyes reveal a sense of pride in her accomplishments as the closest personnel to the king, somewhat reluctant to succumb to her nearing death, but content with the life she is leaving
behind. Works cited Chisick, Harvey. Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005. Print Drouais, Jean Germain. Le Comte De Vandreuil. 1758. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London. Drouais, Jean Germain. Madame Pompadour at Her Tambour Frame. 1763-4. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London. Goodman, Elise. The Portraits of Madame De Pompadour: Celebrating the Femme Savante. Berkeley: U of California, 2000. Print. Jones, Colin. Madame De Pompadour: Images of a Mistress. London: National Gallery, 2002. Print. Lindemans, Micha F. "Minotaur." Encyclopedia Mythica. N.p., 1 Mar. 2001. Web. 9 Jan. 2016. McInnes, Ian. Painter, King & Pompadour: François Boucher at the Court of Louis XV. London: Muller, 1965. Print. West, Shearer. "What Is a Portrait." Portraiture. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
On Saturday, March 15, 2014, I visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The gallery #753, which is a part of so-called American Wing, features oil paintings of the revolutionary period in America. The paintings seen in this gallery celebrate heroes and hard-fought battles of the new nation. The most popular type of painting of that time remained portraiture. Portraits in extremely large numbers figured in interiors, where they were arranged to convey not only domestic, but political messages as well. Hence, it is natural, that such iconic figure like George Washington became a model for numerous artists of that era, including Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale, for whom Washington actually sat. Two exceptional portraits of Washington, the general and the the first President of the United States are highlighted in this paper.
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The Comtesse de Tournay, is an amazing mother and wife. Her top concern when she finally escapes war ridden France and makes it safely to England is to get her husband M. le Comte Tournay de Basserive safe to England as well; however, she knows that her children need her more. She left her husband behind because her children refused to leave the terror that is France without her. The men in the league of the Scarlet Pimpernel assure her that they will bring the Compt to England safely and the comtesse is overjoyed to
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Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
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Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was one of the most successful painters of her time. Over the course of her life, spanning from 1755-1842, she painted over 900 works. She enjoyed painting self portraits, completing almost 40 throughout her career, in the style of artists she admired such as Peter Paul Rubens (Montfort). However, the majority of her paintings were beautiful, colorful, idealized likenesses of the aristocrats of her time, the most well known of these being the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, whom she painted from 1779-1789. Not only was Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun the Queen’s portrait painter for ten years, but she also became her close, personal friend. She saw only the luxurious, carefree, colorful, and fabulous lifestyle the aristocracy lived in, rather than the poverty and suffrage much of the rest of the country was going through. Elisabeth kept the ideals of the aristocracy she saw through Marie Antoinette throughout her life, painting a picture of them that she believed to be practically perfect. Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s relationship with Marie Antoinette affected her social standing, politics, painting style, and career.
References 2, 7, 8- "Vincent Van Gogh- Portrait of an Artist" Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, pages 7, 85, and 86. Published in 2001.
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The painting depicts two figures, the one of a woman and of a man. The dominating central figure is the one of the woman. We see her profile as she looks to the left. Her hands are crossed in a graceful manner. She has blonde hair and her figure is lit by what seems to be natur...