Post 4

This painting is a self-portrait of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard with her two students in the back (Marie Gabrielle Capet and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond). This painting is oil on canvas with dimensions 83 x 59 1/2 inches. When you first look at this painting you see how the women are very classy and look very professional. The way the artist drew this painting was with a lot of details on themselves and the dresses they were wearing. This painting is representing who they are and how they looked. This painting is representational because you can see the women and they look real. You are able to tell what the painting is about and it is clear what the artist wanted to show. The style of the painting is realistic because it is a painting on women and they look like women, they don’t look like anything else. Even though the style of the painting is realistic, it is also idealized because of the way the artist drew them. The women in the painting look almost perfect with their skin and dresses. Berger says a quote saying, “Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion”, and I think it means that the artist made herself look better than her students because she was the teacher. She painted the painting by showing everyone that her students looked up to her and that she had a better dress and hat then her students. I also think this quote is good because in reality people who always try to make themselves better than everyone else and want to be the best. Since this painting is a self-portrait, the artist made herself look better and stands out much more than anything else in the painting. Berger’s quote does apply to this painting and life in general.  

Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/436840?rpp=30&pg=1&ft=women+paintings&pos=1