annemarart

[annemarart]

the reluctant bride

context  ⋆.˚ ᡣ�� .𖥔˚

the reluctant bride (la fiancée hésitante - also translated to “the hesitant fiancée” or “the hesitant betrothed”) is an oil painting made by auguste toulmouche in 1866. it is now held in a private collection. 

toulmouche usually had paintings that contained one or two girls but this one contained four girls of different ages which adds complexity to the scene. the bride wears a white wedding dress, a colour popularised by queen victoria, and stands in the middle. the two girls on the each side of the bride appear to be consoling her - it’s uncertain whether they are just friends or sisters.

this wedding was clearly not the bride’s choice as she appears to be upper middle class so she couldn’t marry out of the love in her heart, perhaps not even consulted about the marriage.

painting details ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

༉‧₊˚. the fourth girl wearing a pink dress in the background adds a touch of innocence into the painting as she appears to be oblivious to the bride’s hesitance and is instead admiring her flower crown and possibly fantasising about her future marriage, unaware of social expectations and just aware of the love that surrounds marriage

༉‧₊˚. the room, possibly the bride’s, is decorated in a normal style of 19th century housing. it is beautiful, personal and contrasts well with the bride’s bright white dress

༉‧₊˚. the bride holds a direct gaze with the viewer, her annoyance clear, and she shows no reaction to the comfort of the two girls next to her

critic reviews ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

“it is one of those small interior scenes that the artist excels at painting. they are always the same young women or girls, […] this time, it is this charming blonde that you know; dressed in her bridal gown, she is sitting, surrounded by her friends that console her, […] this delicate composition will not wait long to be, like its predecessors, popularized in engravings and photography.”

༉‧₊˚. lucien dubois ᡣ𐭩 chronique – nos artistes au salon de 1866, le cadre

“submerged in a melancholic daydream, she [the bride] reveals regret for the past and a vague worry about the future. while she abandons her thoughts to a thousand concerns whose exact meaning escapes her, two of her friends try to detach her from her dark ideas.”

༉‧₊˚. félix jahyer ᡣ𐭩 salon de 1866: deuxième étude sur les beaux-arts, bnf gallica

[annemarart]

thérèse dreaming

context  ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

“therese dreaming” is an oil painting made by balthus (balthasar klossowski) in 1938. it is now held in the metropolitan museum of art, new york.

balthus’s model, therese blanchard, remains unaware and lost in thought - as the title of the painting suggests. “balthus, like countless modern artists, believed the subject of the child to be a source of raw spirit, not yet molded by societal expectations.” there is a controversy surrounding this painting as it depicts an adolescent girl in a “sexually suggestive” pose, two feminists (mia merrill and anna zuccarro) made an online campaign saying that the metropolitan museum of art should “either to remove it or furbish it with a note accusing both the artist and the painting of exploitative immorality” to which the museum declined.

sources ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

༉‧₊˚. the painting’s controversy https://newcriterion.com/dispatch/warning-balthus-warning/

༉‧₊˚. the painting’s history

(the link isn't working but there is a page on the met museum page on the painting if you want to search it up)

painting details ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

༉‧₊˚.  the composition conveys a feeling of anxiety for the subject: the way her chin is tilted away from the viewer and she is lost in thought

༉‧₊˚. her face implies she’s lost thinking of a “sexual experience” in either euphoria or agony, hence the controversy surrounding this painting

༉‧₊˚. the cat licking the bowl by therese’s feet adds another layer of vulnerability to this painting as it isn’t like the playful or hunting animal that cats usually are, instead a sensual and vulnerable animal

༉‧₊˚. it is made out to be a normal thing, humanising the feeling of women and girl’s sexuality

[annemarart]

the irritating gentleman

context  ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

the irritating gentleman (der lästige kavalier) was painted by german painter berthold woltze in 1874. it is now stored in the german historical museum (deutsches historisches museum), berlin.

it “depicts a girl dressed in the black of mourning with a tearful face that looks out to us with a resigned expression on her face, perhaps asking us with her gaze to disencumber her of the attentions of the man leaning over to her."

painting details ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

༉‧₊˚. the fact her hair is undone shows that she is underage because in the time period this was made women of age wore their hair up but women underage wore it down

༉‧₊˚. the black colour of the girl's clothes shows she was either arriving to or from a funeral

༉‧₊˚. the girl is reaching for a hair pin which was a common way of self defense during this period

༉‧₊˚. the girl is looking into the viewer, our, eyes, perhaps begging for any kind of help

[annemarart]

the execution of lady jane grey

context  ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

the execution of lady jane grey (1833) by paul delaroche, a french painter. the oil painting is now held in the london national gallery.

lady jane grey, nicknamed "nine days' queen", was proclaimed queen of england on 10 july 1553 and deposed only nine days later and executed on 12 Febuary 1554.

painting details ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

༉‧₊˚. you can see that lady grey couldn't find the execution block, where she should've laid her head down, so she is guided towards it by sir john brydges, lieutenant of the tower, as the executioner waits off to the right.

༉‧₊˚. the ladies in waiting on the right are depicted as inconsolable: one slumped to the ground in misery and another turned away as to not see what is going to happen. 

༉‧₊˚.the lady in waiting on the ground holds lady grey's outer clothing and jewels on her lap. 

༉‧₊˚.both ladies are positioned so that their neck is highlighted, foreshadowing the execution waiting to happen.

༉‧₊˚. in actuality, the event took place outside but delaroche provides a dark background to emphasise the gloom of the event taking place. this also makes her dress stand out.

༉‧₊˚.  when executed, the condemned would wear black clothes and lady grey would wear that in history but she is presented with a white dress in the painting to represent her innocence and peace.