#1st odalisque exist

[ellianasdeadpointeshoes]

I hope ECC gives sunny Grand Pas Classique or even Diana. I feel shes ready for harder variations like that this season.

I hope they don't. Have you lost your mind?????

[bourgeoisartinquarantine]

Blog Week Five (Long Eighteenth Century): Analyze one Rococo work and explain how it is typical of the period style.

For this week’s bog I have chosen to analyze one eighteenth century painting (Rococo) and explain how it is styled to the period’s particular style. This analysis will however divert slightly from traditional Rococo, as this is a British painting that information, such as the specific date or cause for the portrait, is largely unknown to art historians at this point in time. Furthermore, I will be discussing certain aspects of this portrait that pertain to the eighteenth century art movement on a whole (such as oreintalism, displays of physical wealth in fabrics, jewellery, and land ownership, etc.).

Although there are particulars still unknown about this work, what we do know is that it was commissioned on the eighteenth century by William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield and was a double portrait, possibly painted by Scottish painter David Martin, of the Earl’s two great nieces, Elizabeth Murray (right) and her “Mulatto” cousin and companion, Dido Elizabeth Belle. 

Despite England still engaging within the African American slave trade, this work depicts an anomaly of British history: an illegitimate daughter of an English aristocratic captain and black Caribbean slave that was raised within an upper class aristocratic family, and from a majority of accounts, while bypassing the racism and prejudice that existed within aristocratic circles of eighteenth century Britain, Dido Belle was treated well and loved by her great Uncle. He gave her presents on birthdays and Christmas, leaving her a considerable dowry and allowance during his life and upon his death. However, she was not considered legally a “free slave” until his death as stated in his will. What we can take away from this painting, regardless of varying interpretations, is that Dido Belle was an eighteenth century British black woman who lived a very different live than other people of colour during her lifetime. 

Analyzing the painting from the styles of Rococo and Orientalism, this painting is given further depth and meaning. Analyses of this painting range, my interpretation however is that Elizabeth Murray (right) is a perfect example of Rococo French style of eighteenth century painting: her gown has been painted in many thin layers of baby pinks, creams, and whites, displaying expensive lace and frills creating a feminine image of softness, sensuality, and beauty that pertained to the Rococo female. Furthermore, with a single strand of choker style pearls, a crown of rosettes in her hair, and deeply flushed cheeks and cupids bow lips of red, Elizabeth Murray resembles  Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s “The Swing”: 

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Les Hasards Heureux de L'Escarpolette (“The Swing”), 1767.

Moving unto Dido Elizabeth Belle (right), her depiction through this portrait is a different style of the eighteenth century, Orientalism. Popularly in art history, people of colour are often depicted as “exotic”, this is extended further in the movement of Orientalism painting in the eighteenth century. Overtly, it is a way in which Euro - Western painters (French, Italian, British, etc.) would romanticise and Westernise people or scenes from “The Orient” (Asia, India, etc.). The way in which Dido Belle is depicted, which would later be fashionable in the beginning of the nineteenth century, she is seen wearing a turban with a feather, a wrapped white gown with little decoration, a strand of choker pearls to match her cousins’, long earrings, a large swath a fabric tied around her waist in an “Oriental” styled fabric, and a thin organza blue wrap around her elbows. Furthermore, that she is holding a large bowl of fruit is often scrutinised and analyzed for meanings of servitude, or further perceptions of “exotic” or “oriental”. Dido Belle, the way she has been depicted, connects very well to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ 1814 painting, The Grand Odalisque: 

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Grand Odalisque, 1814, oil on canvas (Musée du Louvre, Paris).

It is interesting that the two young women are almost depictions of the art movements’ momentum during the eighteenth century; Elizabeth Murray (right) depicts the softness, pastel colouring, lace and silk, the wealth, overindulgence, extravagance of the Rococo era and art whereas Dido Elizabeth Belle is a nod to the future style of not only Regency fashion, but the later style of Orientalism during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. 

Finally, the best part about this painting (the double portrait of Dido Belle and Elizabeth Murray), is while Murray is devoid of much personality or expression, Dido Belle has a beautiful, curious, and mischievous smile, denoting a young woman who was hopefully very happy in her situation in life. 

[justlookinatsomeart]

Information below is for the top piece

At the New Museum

Artist:

Raymond Pettibon

Title:

Madonna and Child (Guessing)

Material:

Ink on paper

Surface Qualities:

Smooth.

Color

Black, brown, grey

Subject:

Depiction of Madonna and Christ.

Context/Location:

1st floor of galleries

Intended Audience:

Museum goers

Information below is for the bottom piece

From the Exhibition Kerry James Marshal, Mastry

At the Metropolitan Museum Breuer

Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York/London (Private Collection)

Artist:

Kerry James Marshal (born 1955)

Title:

Untitled (Beach Towel)

2014

Material:

Acrylic on PVC canvas

Size:

60 7/8 x 72 5/8 x 2 ¾ in.

Surface Qualities:

The use of paint creates different textures to the piece. (Guessing)

Color

Greens, Reds, Oranges, Browns, Blacks, Blues, Pinks, Yellows, and Whites.

Subject:

A woman is reclining on a beach towel in what seems to be a backyard or a park. She could be at a photoshoot.

Context/Location:

3rd floor in the room to the left and back a little.

Intended Audience:

Museum goers

Compare/Contrast - REMIX

In these pieces, the remix element is not as obvious as most pieces because there is no collage/pre-exisiting work. However, both represent a remix that is conceptual. Marshall’s piece conceptually remixes odalisque female nudes of the Italian Renaissance. Marshall keeps the pre-existing idea of a female nude, but changes it to make it original and to offer a new perspective on the issue of body image and female beauty. Pettibon also takes a common image seen throughout the Italian Renaissance: the Madonna and Child. Pettibon manipulates the subject matter by including text on the side. In the past, Madonna and Child pieces were honored, sometimes they were altar pieces for churches. In Pettibon’s piece, the Madonna and Child are being mocked because the text is so inappropriate for the subject matter. The key similarity in Pettibon’s ink drawing and Marshall’s acrylic painting is that both incorporate remix in a conceptual manner instead of physically applying pre-existing artworks in their own piece.