Portrait D ' Une Negresse ( 1800 ) By Marie Guilhelmine Benoist

She explains how this can be done by seeing black females as real valid people and treating them as such. In life we must stop objectifying the black female body before we can see any change within art. By understanding the black female as a legitimate individual with purpose, one can then accurately portray her within art, and create a more subjective authentic representation of the black female body. These beleifs presented by Lorraine O’Grady could be applied to the famous art piece The Moorish Bath, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, in how he depicts the black female body. Instead of having the black female in the background surrounded by darker colors and lighting, while the white female is in the brighter lighting, allow them both to be in the same brighter more focused lighting. Also the role of the black female should be reexamined in that she is serving the white female and bathing her. A more progressive version could be both the females bathing themselves making them both the main subjects, instead of objectifying the black body as one that only serves. Another aspect that should be addressed is the fact that the white female is fully naked while the black

This painting is a portrait of an old woman who is sitting on a chair while facing to the left. She is wearing a yellow flower dress with a beige jacket while sitting in an empty room. Her beauty is illustrated by her curly, gray hair and also her wrinkled face, neck, and hands. These details is what makes her look real and pure. I like how detailed it is because it reminds me of my grandmothers.

The slave is compositionally arranged in front of the Mistress in a predominant position, however as noted in our text this week, most of the slaves placed in the foreground of a painting in this era were done so in humor, to tease or to make them look immature (Pohl 278). As the title suggests, this slave has been dressed up by her Mistress in her Mistress’s clothing as a way for the Mistress to make fun of the slave, teasing her with a taste of wealth and upper class. Cany Peale’s previous career in fancy-goods gave her the understanding of what was in fashion

The face is over exaggerated in its features and is almost clown like. It tests the ideas of gender, identity, and race. The only reason I would assume that this portrait is a woman because the collection of which it was originally presented was named “Head of a Woman.” However, this easily can be represented as a man due to its angles, and there was not an overly dominant color that is generally associated with a specific gender. This leads into the topic of identity especially in the twenty-first century where people have become freer to express their identity and beliefs. Lastly, I think Thomas was trying to add the topic of race into the piece with the afro inspired pattered and similarities to African

The painting Udney Maria Blakeley (1830), by Thomas Sully, was the first painting that came to mind when assigned the project: the painting has fascinated me both as a child and an adult due to the beauty of both the woman in the painting, but also from my deeper understanding of art now. Thomas Sully used the wet medium of oil on canvas, and included the woman in the foreground of the painting holding a rose in a vase in her right hand. There is a deep contrast between the women dressed in a white gown, and the darker background of the painting. Due to the highlighting along the left side of her face, and the shadowing on the right, it can be assumed that she is facing, or even looking straight at the

For my term paper I decided to go to the Cantor Museum in Palo Alto, and I chose to focus on two portraits of women from two distinct time periods. First, I decided on the portrait of Margaret Blagge, Wife of Sidney, 1st Earl of Godolphin. This portrait was painted by the artist Matthew Dixon in 1675, in the Baroque period of art. The portrait of Margaret Blagge was done in England, and it was painted as an oil on canvas. The second artwork I chose to compare was the Portrait of Sally Fairchild by John Singer Sargent. This portrait was done from the year 1884 to 1887 during the Realism movement in art. The portrait of Sally Fairchild was painted in the United States of America, and was painted as an oil on canvas. When comparing these two portraits

This subject matter is about one of the most under rated paintings in my opinion of all time painted by a very under rated painter whom is Tim Ashkar, and the painting is no other than Beauty of Color. The artwork is full of different shades of beautiful black women wearing their elegant attire along with exquisite heads dresses and simply luscious pearl necklace along with the ear rings to match. All of them have peaceful and pleasant looks on their faces with their backs straight wearing beautiful array of earth tone colors with eyes to match. It seems like they arrange from young to not so old but all of their faces are very distinctive from one another, so it’s very easy to see who’s who.

Reclining nude female is a common subject matter in art history since the Venetian Renaissance, Titian’s Venus of Urbino painted in 1538 is one of the earliest reclining nude female in painting history. It described a beautiful young female laying on her bed with her sleeping dog, on the back ground is her maids looking for cloth or her in the cassone. Manet’s Olympia that painted in 1865 is a painting with a similar composition, A nude young female who was suggested a prostitute, behind her is her black female maid holding a big bouquet of flower which is possibly from her customer. On the same part of the composition, there is an animal as well, but this time it is a cat. Titian and Manet’s reclining nude female have a same composition and subject matter, however They are very different in art history, both stylistically and culturally.

Like Untitled #225 (Blond Woman), Sherman’s Untitled portrait #198 (Feather Mask) also stirs a sense of uneasiness. The portrait is a color photograph created in 1989. A woman with an open salmon colored shirt exposes both artificial breasts as she sits with a large, blue feather mask covering her face, as if to cover her identity for fear of being mocked for being a woman. Dark, black eyes peer from beneath the mask, and appear to follow the viewer while one examines the portrait. There’s seems to be no reason for her shirt to be open and her breasts on display, unlike Sherman’s Untitled #225 (Blond Woman) portrait, who seemed to have a definite reason. The fake, jewelry-like nipples on the breast are a deep ruby red color that match with a red pedant hung around her neck. A white tulle skirt covers the lower half of her body as she sits in front of a green printed fabric with red tassels that is hung loosely behind her.

context such as race and gender, and the history of the painting. In addition, I will be

The background of the painting is very dark and a reflective of the dark times some women were in during this time. The dark background and the subject’s serious persona give the painting a mysterious sensation. Mrs. Richard Skinner’s clothing pieces are very light colors which give a light-hearted ambiance to the painting but the dark background, dim lighting, and the dark table that lay before her completely alter the mood of the painting. The lighting of the painting, therefore, emphasizes Mrs. Richard Skinner even more due to her dark surroundings, which is another example of Copley’s attempt at accentuating her womanhood. Some of the props in this painting elaborate and stress her sexuality even further. The subject is holding a flower in the painting; flowers are symbolic of purity and femininity. The way the subject is holding the flowers is to be noted as well. She is holding

Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.

The feel of the picture lends to emotions of unease and recognition of sexual innuendo. The colors of the painting are vibrant, but for the most part are dark. The heavy tones and shades of the colors are well balanced throughout the piece. It can be noted that the brightest shades of color are found on areas depicting the actual woman. In areas that are understood as landscape, the colors are more dreary and create a sense of instability. Even Hess observes that the

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

When one looks at the painting White light, an array of colors spring off the canvas and permeate one’s senses. The primary and intense color of red is softened by the primary colors of yellow and blue. While the tertiary color of green subtly takes its place among the hues to give some balance. The perceivable tones of black and white add value and seem to give some