This painting depicts Louise O’Murphy a young Irish woman who was the mistress to king Louis XV. The unique thing about this painting is how she has been posed. Typically women were portrayed as Venus that exemplifies the beauty standards of the classical era. Instead she is posed in a very erotic stature completely nude. This painting had quite a bit of controversy as it a alluded to an affair with the king.
The paintings color pallet is interesting as Boucher used a lot of earthy brown tones in the background and for the objects around her. Along with the brown tones, he used a lot of darker shades for the background this contrasts greatly with the woman’s pale pink skin really drawing attention to her as the main subject of this painting. What else stands out is her clothing laying underneath her which really emphasizes the lewdness of this piece.
I think this painting is really interesting because while it seems to have some rococo elements it also differs with the extremity presented in the tone of this piece, I can’t say whether I like this piece or not. Personally it doesn’t really have much of an appealing color pallet as I am not a huge fan of the color brown. That being said I do enjoy how this painting pushes moral boundaries by alluding to a royal affair.
This piece depicts two young lovers having a rendezvous, the young woman is holding onto a silk shawl as the young man gives her a kiss on the cheek. The expression on the woman’s face gives the feeling of this needing to be a rushed meeting and that she has some other business that she should be attending to. and if you look closely she has company right outside the door furthering the rush and secretive nature of this encounter This piece highlights the lighthearted nature of youthful love and the secretive quality associated with it. Public displays of affection were looked down upon during this time period and this painting is pushing some boundaries by having such an action depicted with people right behind the door. The morals in question is the importance of self satisfaction and promiscuity versus the obligation to others in ones life.
I really like this piece and I would probably have it hanging up in my house. The elements that I really love about this painting is way Fragonard painted the fabric on the woman’s dress and shawl. I also love how the woman seems to be pulled in two opposite directions wanting to feel the affection of her lover yet being pulled away by her obligation to her company. I think its a really cute painting and I love the lighhearted nature of it.
Pastel on blue laid paper, mounted on laminated paper board, 600×500 mm
This pastel depicts a young woman with her chest nearly fully exposed, she is wearing a gown and is adorned with expensive jewelry. This portrait was created by Rosalba Carriera, a female artist. During this time period women were not very well recognised is society for any of their accomplishments. What I really love about this painting is the bold confidence that the woman pictured shows. Carriera Depict a woman who is not super submissive or even showing the childlike qualities that most rococo paintings show women to be. The woman here is bold, beautiful, and cunning. The subtle detail of the bird pulling back her dress and her lack of care shows how confident this woman is. She is sensual yet keeps her dignity by not showing everything, just what she wants you to see. This would definitely go against the moral obligations of a woman during this time period.
I would definitely love to have this portrait hanging up in my house, I adore the subject of the portrait’s attitude and the color pallet is exactly what I look for in rococo style art. What I find most interesting about the elements of this portrait is the use of pastels to create this piece. I often find myself having to correct myself on the composition of this portrait. The blending on here is super good and I love the contrast of textures created by the pastels.
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