Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Self Portrait
In this self portrait, displayed in the salon of the Academy of Saint-Luc in Paris in 1774, the artist Adélaide Labille-Guiard presented herself while painting her miniatures. She holds a palette in her left hand, unusually large for this kind of painting 1 and in her right hand a finely shaped brush. The green covered painting desk is slightly tilted and stands on a small black lacquered table with bronze fittings. The miniature and a piece of paper, serving to wipe the brush, lie on the work surface. A vase with multi - coloured flowers is placed alongside, and a bust of an elderly lady stands on a pedestal next to the table, probably the artist's mother.
Here, as in her self portrait of 1785 (Metropolitan Museum, New York) the artist depicts herself as a genteel lady, whose clothes and furnishing do not differ in any way from those of an aristocrat. This laboured conformance to the leading social class is even more striking in the later self portrait, for the artist there presents herself painting with oils on an easel picture, thus indeed putting her rich clothing and the sumptuous furniture at risk. With miniature painting, on the other hand, there was little danger of soiling, due to the restricted painting area on the table and the small amounts of colour and their water solubility. 2
On the occasion of the exhibition, Labille - Guiard's self portrait in miniature had been favourably commented on by an anonymous art critic. After having criticised the indistinctly painted backgrounds in other portraits of the artist, he noted:"She refrained from this mistake in her own (portrait), furthermore her head is far more distinct, being painted with much subtlety and resemblance. This miniature displays a beautiful painting style, it is agreeable and has much appeal." 3
B.P.
1 The palettes needed for miniature painting were usually merely the size of the palm of the hand.
2 As to the advantages of miniature painting compared to easel painting in high society cf. B. Pappe "Training in miniature painting for artists and amateurs: the studios of Augustin and Isabey in Paris", in: Pappe and Schmieglitz-Otten 2002, pp. 17-18.
3 Letter to M. le Marquise de XXX, 1774, pp. 21-22. Cf. Passez 1993, p.60.
