One Hour Looking at the Met -xe9xlh
Charlotte Damson
Integrative Studio 2
Prof. Ruth Liberman
7 February 2018
One Hour Looking at the Metropolitan Museum
I arrived at the Metropolitan Museum knowing I wanted to examine Adélaïd Labille-Guiard’s Self Portrait with Two Pupils. I studied this painting last semester for my Objects as History course, but never got the chance to see the painting in real life. Labille-Guiard was one of the first female painters we studied, and she was voted into the French Academy for her talent. The Academy had a limitation on female artist, and I always loved the fact that she painted her two pupils in her self-portrait. In a way her painting is saying more female artist will be accepted in the Academy. I believe it was influential and significant that I had previous knowledge on the painting and artist. Reading about it and only being able to see the painting in a textbook is nothing compared to seeing the real thing. I got a totally different experience being able to see the painting at such a large scale. There is only so much detail a textbook can provide.
I found that once I looked at the painting as a whole, I then focused on different sections of the piece. I began first by examining Labille-Guiard’s dress. The light blue color demands attention since there is a high contrast between it and the background. Next I studied her straw hat and the feather coming out of it. The feather has an over realist quality. The focus to detail in the feather shows how Labille-Guiard paid attention to everything, big or small, in her painting. Next I jumped to the background, I remember reading the the male statue head is the head of her father, but I never noticed the female statue behind the head. After, I studied her two pupils, all three females have pale skin and rose cheeks. The two pupils are not dressed as fancy as Labille-Guiard, which made be think about how no one (not even in her time period) would dress in their best dress to paint. I find this self portrait of Labille-Guiard and her pupils is a way for Labille-Guiard to show off her talent and success. I think its important that she depicted herself working in her art studio and on her easel with her palette and paint brushes in hand. Having herself actually painting differentiates her work from the other paintings of women in the museum. I admire her and her painting, and I believe this exercise allowed me to have a new experience and focus on details I did not realize when I first learned about this painting.
Artist: Adélaïd Labille-Guiard
Name: Self Portrait with Two Pupils
Date: 1785
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 83 x 59 1/2 inches
