The close of the 18th century
brought on change in a multitude of forms across the world. Politics and
Society were changed by revolutions, scientific innovations and discoveries,
colonization and trade, as well as intellectual and religious movements. Time brought on changes in ideology, views of
marriage and religion, an elevation of science, and many other factors that
changed many aspects of life in the Western world. In breaking our modern
notions of a double portrait where a woman is wearing white being most often a
wedding portrait, these paintings allude to the break in tradition happening
during the time these paintings were created. Things such as a white dress,
which were widely popular and fashionable in the 18th century were
not indicative of a specific patron or purpose, but rather were used for a
variety of reasons.
Portraits were not just for royalty, or
very wealthy aristocrats anymore. Merchants, scientists, and others could commission
a portrait for any purpose they desired. Similarly, painters were not just from
one academy, tradition or class either. Artists were developing many techniques
and styles of painting, and were involved in many different social and
political movements. Even in keeping with more traditional posing and
composition, individual differences in each piece show a world shifting from
rigorously structured societies to more conversational and diverse culture. Even in the framework
of a specific set of factors for a portrait that would have been more representative
of a traditionally accepted portrait, these pieces still reveal the changing
world they were a part of through small details. These paintings, while
appearing to be a type, reveal the ways that the world was changing at the end
of the 18th century.
Anna
Marie and Thomas Jenkins, Angelica
Kauffman, 1790, Oil on Canvas, National Portrait Gallery, NPG 5044
This may look like a
double portrait of a couple, featuring a pretty young woman and a friendly looking
gentleman, but it is actually a painting meant to serve as an advertisement for
suitors for the young girl in the picture. Anne Marie went to visit her uncle
who acted as an ambassador from England to Rome. This painting is not signifying
the marriage between two people, or a relationship or even as a symbol of
status, but has an active purpose for and between people of the time. Rather
than many paintings of the time being history paintings or genre paintings,
personal portraits for interpersonal use seem slightly more unusual. In the
late 18th century many social and political and movements of the
time were encouraging the rise of equality between men and women and commissioning
a woman to do a portrait would be a small sign of such social changes.
Mr. and Mrs. William Hallett (‘The Morning Walk’),
Thomas Gainsborough,
1785, Oil on Canvas, The National Gallery, NG6209
This painting serves as a
sort of combination save the date and wedding announcement between two young
individuals- William Hallett and his wife. This Portrait was done by Thomas
Gainsborough who, along with a couple others began to elevate the status of
British artists as portrait makers at the turn of the 19th century.
Gainsborough unlike many others did not refer back to the Renaissance, or paint
in the neoclassical style that was popular during his time. Rather he uses a
style later seen in works by artists such as Renoir, using loose and feathery
brushwork. These individuals were not major figures in British society at the
time, yet one of England’s’ more prestigious painters has done a portrait for
them. Instead of a contractual depiction of the couple, the rise of
affectionate marriages in society is represented in the close and affectionate
contact between the man and the woman.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Russell, John Trumbull, 1793, Oil on Canvas mounted on
Masonite, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 2008.1418.
While this elegant
couple may look like British or French aristocracy, they two individuals
actually belong to the young American business class. Mr. Russell was a very
well to do Merchant in the Americas after the Revolutionary war, he was a
patriot, a businessman, and a man of faith who sought to spread the gospel throughout
America. Trumbull was a major history painter during the revolutionary war, but
as an established painter uses a softer and intimate style of painting with
these two figures. In the simple setting seen throughout portraits over the years of
stone columns and the outdoors, Trumbull elevates the Merchant and his wife to
the level of past aristocrats or royalty. The rise of capitalism with the
foundation of America allowed for expansion of the middle class, and offered
the possibility of things such as portraits previously only known to the wealthiest
individuals within a society.
Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) and
His Wife (Marie-Anne-Pierrette Paulze, 1758-1836), Jaques Louis David,
1788, Oil on Canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977.10.
While part of French
aristocracy at the time, Lavoisier was far more than a wealthy man. He was one
of the pioneers of the chemical revolution, as well as one of the fathers of
modern day chemistry. He is shown here in what would have been somewhat of an
avant-garde scene at the time, depicting a man and woman more at work than surrounded
by finery to elevate their status. Lavoisier’s wife, worked with Lavoisier by
translating experiments and information to and from French, as well as making
technical drawings of all of Lavoisier’s experiments and inventions. Reflective
of the French revolution to come, Lavoisier’s wife did not hold a passive role
in the couple’s marriage, but participated actively in their partnership. While
done in neoclassical style, depicting aristocrats, and by a prestigious
painter, the changes coming to France are seen in its subjects and in the story
of its painter. Lavoisier was beheaded as a part of the terror during the French
revolution, and David was a part of the revolutionary group that brought on the
deaths of thousands through the guillotine. Though working together to create a
classically styled portrait, the lives of these three reveal the complex and
changing nature of live at the turn of the century
Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming, Charles Wilson Peale, 1788, Oil on Canvas,
National Gallery of Art, 1966.10.1
Peale is a great example of the changing
landscape of life at the 18th century. While reflective of a
renaissance man, Peale was not only a painter but heavily involved in American science
during the 1700’s. While the couple is in traditional and fashionable garb of
the day, and painted in a classically trained manner, the poses of these two
break norms of the day. With established members of American society both
requesting and painting this piece, it seems odd to experiment with such an
interesting pose that no one had really used in portraiture. An affectionate
embrace between two older individuals for their own use, by a man of many
interests while not revolutionary reflects the more conversational and
egalitarian society of the time.
Mr. and Mrs. John Julius Angerstein, Thomas Lawrence, 1792, Oil on Canvas, Musée du
Lourve, R.F.1028
Mr. Angerstein was a prominent banker in Britain
who had a great love for the arts. His work as a banker gave him opportunity to
amass a prestigious art collection that previously would have only been
available to those with great power such as royalty. This painting reflects the
classical style of his collection. The couples poses, dress, and romanticized
background are common of the popular neoclassical painting style. However
neither individual looks at one another or at the viewer, which is fairly
uncommon for portraits in general, especially at that time.
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