Task 4: Visual Analysis and Contextual Knowledge

Task: Demonstrate Visual and contextual knowledge in a paragraph.

Elizabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun: A prominent 18^th century French painter, who mostly painted the aristocratic class; her major patron was the Queen Marie Antoinette. Over her years of patronage, Le Brun had done over thrity portraits of the Queen and her family; leading her to be the official portraitist of Marie Antoinette. One of Le Brun’s paintings of the Queen, Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress, had drawn controversy at the time. In modern eyes, Marie Antoinette’s attire is modest but casual. The casual part of the painting did not bode well with the public; Marie Antoinette simply did not look like a Queen of France. The painting was quickly replaced with a more formal portrait.
In this portrait, Marie Antoinette wears a simple muslin dress; at Petit Trianon, the Queen and her entourage wore such attire, where court protocol is not enforced. The background is possibly set in Petit Trianon (like the dress, it’s very simple and rustic). In her hands, Marie Antoinette holds a cabbage rose, a recurring motif in all her portraits.
Referring back to Mirzoeff and the power of “Majesty”, he states that this concept is built around Absolutism rule and that its monarch’s had power that centred in their very person. This impressive power, or Majesty, is visualized but not seen. With the absence of Majesty from the portrait, did it make the public uncomfortable? Did they see, within this painting, not a Queen but an ordinary woman? Without the element of Majesty, I believe this is what the public had thought at the time.

Resources:
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Chapter One: How to See Yourself”. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. 36 – 17. Print.
Vigee Le Brun, Elizabeth Louise. Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress. 1783. Oil on Canvas. Schloss Wolfsgarten.
Vigée Le Brun, Elizabeth Louise. Marie Antoinette with the Rose. 1783. Oil on Canvas. The Palace of Versailles, Paris.

Task Two: Contextual Understanding

Sturken and Cartwright doing Visual Analysis.
Task: Write a short response explaining what stood out to you in their discussion of the two photographic images by US photographer, Weegee.

What had drawn me to the analysis was the way the writers had described the photograph – it was as if they had said to me “Look at this photograph, this is what it is”. It was straight forward but at the same time, drew me in as they had put in context to the photograph. The context was Weegee’s methods of getting these horrific but fascinating photographs, the story behind the “First Murder” photograph, and the social and political unrest at the time. It made me want to know more and I read more into the analysis and photographs, hoping to get more understanding and interpretations.

 

Resources:
Struken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. “Images, Power and Politics.” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 9 – 48. Print.
Fellig, Arthur. First Murder. 1941 – 1950. Getty Museum, Los Angles, California, USA.

Task One: Visual Literacy

Task: Crtically consider ideas discussed from the above texts and the lecture presentations.

Zoffany, Johann. Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Her Cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. 1778. Oil on Canvas. Kenwood House, Scotland.

Video: Smarthistory Art historical analysis (painting), using Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882.
Idea: Approaching an artwork critically, dissecting its elements, and having an in depth analysis. Looking at its subject matter, considering its narrative, possible meanings, socio-political norms of the times, etc.
Artwork: Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her cousin, Elizabeth Murray.

Beth Harris and Steven Zucker talk about in their video, critically analyzing a painting and dissecting its possible meanings, narrative, symbolisms, viewpoints and artistic technicalities with “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” by Edouard Manet. This allows the viewer to critically think about other visual texts similarly, such as the portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle with her cousin, Elizabeth Murray.
The portrait, unusual for its time, portrays a black woman and a white woman as equals, or near equals. Paintings of the time had their white subjects (the English nobility) dominant whilst the black subject (a servant or slave) looking up at the white “protagonist”. Murray is portrayed as a scholarly, demure English lady with her rigid pose and a book in hand, a huge contrast to her black cousin. Dido is portrayed in the exact opposite; she is painted with great vivacity and holding a bowl of fruit as if she was going to serve others. Both women wear outfits reflecting their social status but their positioning and actions within the painting allude to a hint of their racial differences.

Resources:
Art: Smarthistory. art, history, conversation. Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882