Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782, oil on canvas.
1 2023-04-17T20:01:12+00:00 Amie Fillet ea19f215a988933e409dbe3d7df2628fc004a781 302 3 Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782, oil on canvas. plain 2023-04-17T23:25:54+00:00 Amie Fillet ea19f215a988933e409dbe3d7df2628fc004a781This page is referenced by:
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Introduction
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There are many subtleties and nuances that are incorporated into the art of self-representation. Clothing and the art of dress is a tool which can be instrumental in how the individual chooses to present themselves outwardly. As put forth by Elizabeth Wilson in her work, Adorned in Dreams, “Clothing marks an unclear boundary ambiguously, and unclear boundaries disturb us. […] If the body with its open orifices is itself dangerously ambiguous, then dress, which is an extension of the body yet not quite part of it, not only links the body to the social world, but also more clearly separates the two. Dress is the frontier between the self and the not-self.”[1] This notion of dress as “the frontier between the self and the not-self” is an idea which puts forth the art of dressing as something which takes an active role in distinguishing the self from the social world. Dress then acts in a liminal space between the physical body and the social world. Within this liminal space, individuals hold the agency to construct an image of the not-self through their clothing choices. Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun illustrates this notion not only in her self portraits, but also within her depiction of Marie Antoinette. She carefully crafts the representation of Marie Antoinette using the art of dress in order to craft an image of royal femininity for Marie Antoinette while using dress in her own self-portraits in order to represent herself with notions of female beauty and nontraditional ideals of motherhood. [1] Elizabeth Wilson, Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity, Rutgers University Press, 2003, 3.
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The Self
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The Self
Lebrun’s Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat is a piece which emphasizes both her feminine beauty and her originality and skill as an artist. She used portraiture and dress as a means to assert herself among her male counterparts. In the portrait, Lebrun illustrates herself in a soft and lightweight dress, wearing a black shawl with a modest straw hat, her hair in a simple style. One of her hands holds a palette and her paintbrushes while her other hand is extended outwards towards the direction of the viewer.[1] This simple gesture, of one hand holding her palette as the other hand is extended outwards towards the viewer, is a gesture which speaks to the dualistic nature of Lebrun’s identity as both artist and woman.[2] In addition to her stance reaching out to the viewer, her styling of herself through the art of dress functions in her self-representation to emphasize her simple beauty and authenticity as opposed to artifice. As put forth by Elizabeth Wilson in her work Adorned in Dreams, the eighteenth century emphasized increasing notions of domesticity and the private sphere as it pertained to women and ideals of femininity. Notions of delicacy and fragility colored the perception of proper femininity for the bourgeoisie.[3] In contrast to this eighteenth century concept of fragile femininity contained to the domestic sphere, Lebrun depicts herself not only outside as opposed to contained in the domestic sphere, but her use of clothing in her portrait functions to depict her as a strong woman who is not constrained by eighteenth century fashion trends of tight corsets and superfluousness. She depicts herself wearing a straw hat as opposed to a softer fabric such as felt. This in of itself speaks to her using the art of dress to subtly craft an image of herself as an authentic and genuine woman who is choosing to negate traditional images of feminine dress. As opposed to showing herself in alignment with fashion trends of the bourgeoisie, she illustrates herself wearing modest colors with a looser fit than a corset style, and subtle ornamentation. In this way, Lebrun not only uses dress to establish herself as a sophisticated artist, but she is able to express her femininity as a modern and career-oriented woman. In this way, the power of dress is that it allows for the individual to disseminate subliminal notions regarding gender and the self.[1] Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782, oil on canvas.[2] Catherine R. Montfort, “Self-Portraits, Portraits of Self: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, Women Artists of the Eighteenth Century,” Pacific Coast Philology 40, no. 1 (2005): 10-11.[3] Wilson, Adorned in Dreams, 118. - 1 2023-04-17T23:28:32+00:00 Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun 4 plain 2023-04-17T23:30:17+00:00 Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun was
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Conclusion
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Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun’s attention to the specificities of dress in her portraiture both of herself as well as of Marie Antoinette is illustrative of how the nuances of how one decides to clothe oneself functions to convey subliminal messages about identity. As put forth by Elizabeth Wilson, it is dress that is able to fulfill social, aesthetic, and psychological functions simultaneously.[1] Dress then becomes not only about demonstrating a sense of modernity with shifting fashion trends, but about constructing an image of the self through clothing choices. It is within the realm of dress that Lebrun was able to align herself with nontraditional French ideals about motherhood while asserting her femininity and authenticity as an artist. In this way, the individual’s choice in clothing of the body extends past necessity and extends into self-fashioning. [1] Wilson, Adorned in Dreams, 3.
