This is my top 5 of the paintings I've seen at the Women's stories exhibition
Eva Gonzales was a student of Manet. She was born in Paris, the daughter of a Spanish writer and she took lessons on painting and drawing from a young age. She was a student and a friend of Edouard Manet and her paintings reflect his influence. She was his only formal pupil and she often modelled for other impressionists. This painting in particular looks a lot like Manet. It was striking from across the room.
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| The opera seemed to be a popular topic at this exhibition. Here is a box at the theatre des Italiens next to Portrait of a lady with binoculars, by the Polish painter Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz. Both depict women at the opera, holding binoculars and watching the show. The one on the right almost made the top 5. I loved the background, the way it almost seemed like a tempestuous sky, and how clear the signature of the artist is at the top... Most artists signatures seem like incomprehensible lines at the corner of the paintings.... It was fresh to see one so carefully crafted... |
Eva is consider part of the impressionist movement, even though she never took part in their exhibitions (much like Manet himself). She produced much, even though she died at the early age of 34, giving birth to her first daughter… The thought of it makes me sad… It reminds me of the death of Madame du Chatellet, and those first few lines at the beggining of Alias Grace:
“there are many dangerous things that may take place in a bed. It is where we are born, and that is our first peril in life; and it is where the women give birth, which is often their last.”
3) Self Portrait in a straw hat, by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
I loved this portrait. It's not just that it seems to depict a type of beauty that does not exhist anymore. It's that it is a self portrait, that is, it shows how the artist saw herself, and it's truly marvelous that it's this beautiful and light... The straw hat, the paint brushes in her hand, even the backgorund, everything seems to be in perfect harmony....
Élisabeth was - as is the case with so many artists in that exhibition - the daughter of a painter. She was also a member of the Académie de St-Luc and the French academy in the 1770s. She travelled quite a bit to study and perfect her craft, and in fact, Self Portrait with a straw hat is a free imitation of La chapeau the paille, byPeter Paul Reubens, with whom she came in contact with in one of theses travels. Eventually she was granted patronage by the queen, Marie Antoinette and she painted several portraits of the queen and her family. This woman had an interesting life, and perhaps is entitled to a post all about herself.
2) L’atelier d’Abel de Pujol, by Adrienne Marie Louise Grandpierre-Deverzy
There were three depictions of artists workshops in the exhibition. Two of them were depictions of the workshop of Abel de Pujol.
Adrienne Marie Louise Grandpierre-Deverzy was a student of Abel de Pujol (he had studied under Jacques Louis David). She would later become his second wife and a teacher of female students at his workshop.
The thing that caught my eye here was what an amazing room to be in. Both of them… One is quiet and contemplative, the other is bustling with activity, but both have a great atmosphere, with paintings in the walls, sculptures, and sunlight coming from above. It’s a little hard to believe that such a place actually existed and didn’t pop up in someone’s imagination…
1 - Nameless and Friendless
This was, without a doubt my favourite painting in the whole exhibit. It’s a loan from the Tate and it was painted by Emily Osborn in 1857.
Emily Mary Osborn was born in 1828 in London, the eldest of nine children. Her mother, Mary Osborn, encouraged her to study art from a young age "and watched with pride the clever portraits Emily drew of her brothers and sisters". Mary had a great love of painting and "wished in vain to study Art professionally" herself. Emily was not always able to purchase the paints and supplies she required, so she managed to obtain colours from flowers by mixing petals with spirits of wine. She went on to study at Dickinson’s academy and at the age of 17 she began showing her work at the Royal Academy exhibition. According to the summary at the Tate’s website, “Osborn established a reputation as a genre painter specialising in figurative subjects of ‘unpretending character’ – the most significant of which were pictures of modern women in pathetic situations, similar to works by Richard Redgrave and Rebecca Solomon.”
Nameless and Friendless is her most famous work. It depicts a woman who is trying to make a life as an artist. She has brought a painting to sell, and two “swells” ogle her from the left. Once again according to the Tate the black dress suggests she is an orphan, and the boy at her side is likely a younger brother. It’s interesting that the text next to the painting stated a different interpretation all together, positing that the boy was probably her son.
What struck me about this painting is that the woman in the centre seems very brave. She is clearly in a position of disadvantage. The man examining her painting doesn’t seem too inclined to offer her a large sum for it, and it cannot be too comfortable to be under the gaze of those two fellows in the left, the ones who had been admiring the drawing of a ballet dancer. And yet, in spite of all that, she’s there. That’s why she seems brave. Timid too… And nervous, pulling the strings with her hands like that. It must be humbling. Coming inside such a place with such a small painting, knowing that no one there thinks you belong…
The boy is interesting too… He has that look in his face… That look of a little one who is trying hard to be a man and protect his sister, even though she is the one who is looking after him. It doesn’t help that the box he’s carrying is almost as big as he is. They are wearing coates and the umbrella is dripping water on the carpet… The weather must be awful outside…
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