8/18/2010
the thinness in art
Most people believe that all the art up until at least the French revolution showed women as very fleshy beings (yet usually beautiful). It's not that true. The sense of etherical beauty has been present in every century of human existence. And I just found a painter that was able to catch just that kind of beauty in his paintings. I think they are worth sharing.
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very beautiful paintings! and its a refreshing change from the "voluptuous" women that were usually depicted.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing!
It's quite facinating, really.
ReplyDeleteHope you're smiling. <3
i like those!! i have seen a few, never knew who their were painted by.thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete-Lilo
Actually, Thomas Gainsborough lived just years before the French Revolution, which isn't really nearly early enough to say that his paintings were refreshing from the classical, voluptuous women represented leading up to his career. He was hardly a pioneer to the trend.
ReplyDeleteHe lived during the pre-modern era in art, at a time where art was shifting from rococo to neo-classicism. Many artists were beginning to depict slimmer women. But we also have to examine fashion at that point in history to understand why. Huge wigs and wide dresses. The more ridiculous, the better. And what makes an already gigantic dress appear wider? Why, a contrasting waistline. Just look at Marie Antoinette. Every portrait of her leads us to believe that she was a very slim woman.
Not to mention the fact that one of the main causes leading up to the French revolution was crop shortages. Thomas Gainsborough lived in England of course, but the food shortages were actually felt all across Europe at that time.
Now, a pre-baroque painting of a slim woman would impress me.
I'm not contradicting your statement that thinness was appreciated as beautiful prior to the French Revolution at all. Just that it wasn't depicted in art. Thin women were poor. Only the most affluent, overindulged women could afford commissioned portraits. After the French Revolution, the feudal system began to fail, thus the common woman began to develop the means for such pampering and painters weren't as interested in capturing the rich, just because they were the pillars of society.