Global InformationPompadour at Her Toilette information
| Pompadour at Her Toilette | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | François Boucher |
| Year | 1750 |
| Medium | Oil-on-canvas |
| Dimensions | 81 cm × 65 cm (32 in × 26 in) |
| Location | Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA |
Pompadour at Her Toilette is an oil-on-canvas painting by François Boucher from 1750 (with later additions) depicting Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV of France.
The format of the painting changed several times after its initial creation. It was originally a small, rectangular bust, closely cropped around Pompadour's face.[1]: 108 Boucher later enlarged the canvas with several rectangular strips, adding in the surrounding toilette scene.[1]: 108 Sometime in the late eighteenth century, the painting was again adjusted to give it an oval format.[2] The expanded composition is significant for its representation of Pompadour in the act of applying her rouge makeup.[3]: 74 Further, the addition of rouge makeup connects to popular trends of pink skin at the time.[3]: 75 Art historians have interpreted the depiction of makeup in the scene along with the many additions and changes to the composition as an exploration of Pompadour's agency in fashioning her own image.[1][4]
Context and description
Boucher composed the painting in 1750, when Madame de Pompadour was 37 years old. At the time, she was suffering from migraines, fevers, seizures, and other ailments.[5] Her body became thin and bony due to weight loss, and her complexion became jaundiced and wrinkled.[5] Thus, the portrait, which shows her healthy figure and smooth white skin, is more representative of her past beauty and youth, which had won her the position of being the king's favorite mistress.[5]
Boucher's use of delicate brushstrokes, pastel colors, and sensuous subject matter reflects the characteristics of the Rococo movement.[6]: 117 The application of makeup further relates to the Rococo emphasis on surface decoration and artifice.[6] Pale pink and white dominate Boucher's palette in this painting, which aligns with the most popular cosmetic colors at the time.[7]: 457 Through his use of pale pink and white, Boucher is able to draw an analogy between oil paint and makeup, connecting the art of painting to the rituals of the toilette.[7]: 457–458 The blue flowers in Madame de Pompadour's hair and the blue ribbons by the mirror serve as a contrast to the dominant pink hues.[8]: 74 The light and feathery brushstrokes Boucher uses create an illusion of applying powder to the face further connect the actions of the artist and the patron.[8]: 75
- ^ a b c Hyde, Melissa Lee; Boucher, François (2006). Making up the rococo: François Boucher and his critics. Texts & documents. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute. ISBN 978-0-89236-743-6. OCLC 60644729.
- ^ Alden Rand Gordon and Teri Hensick, "The Picture Within the Picture: Boucher's 1750 'Portrait of Madame de Pompadour' Identified", Apollo (February 2002), pp. 21-30.
- ^ a b Albinson, A. Cassandra; Ledbury, Mark; Szalay, Gabriella; Wunsch, Oliver, eds. (2022). Madame de Pompadour: painted pink. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Art Museums. ISBN 978-0-300-26381-7.
- ^ Lajer-Burcharth, Ewa (2001). "Pompadour's Touch: Difference in Representation". Representations. 73 (1): 54–88. doi:10.1525/rep.2001.73.1.54. ISSN 0734-6018. JSTOR 10.1525/rep.2001.73.1.54.
- ^ a b c Goodman-Soellner, Elise (1987). "Boucher's "Madame de Pompadour at Her Toilette"". Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art. 17 (1): 41–58. doi:10.2307/3780687. ISSN 0037-5411. JSTOR 3780687.
- ^ a b Hyde, Melissa Lee; Boucher, François (2006). Making up the rococo: François Boucher and his critics. Texts & documents. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute. ISBN 978-0-89236-743-6. OCLC 60644729.
- ^ a b Hyde, Melissa (2000). "The "Makeup" of the Marquise: Boucher's Portrait of Pompadour at Her Toilette". The Art Bulletin. 82 (3): 453–475. doi:10.2307/3051397. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3051397.
- ^ a b Lajer-Burcharth, Ewa (2001). "Pompadour's Touch: Difference in Representation". Representations. 73 (1): 75. doi:10.1525/rep.2001.73.1.54. ISSN 0734-6018. JSTOR 10.1525/rep.2001.73.1.54.