Why the artist Georges Seurat hid the self-portrait in the painting "The Powdery Woman"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The French artist and founder of pointillism, Georges Seurat, is known for his hard work and secretive nature. So on one of his works - a portrait with a woman powdering her face - the master hid a self-portrait. Who is this woman and why did he rewrite the frame with his face, painting a still life with flowers there?

About the master

Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-91) is the recognized leader of post-impressionism and the founder of pointillism. He combined the ideals of academic French art with a curious distant view of modernity and founded pointillism. Seurat decided from an early age that he would be an artist, studied at the School of Fine Arts under the direction of Ingres. He gained fame for his work "Bathers in Asnieres", which became an avant-garde icon after it was rejected by the Salon exhibition and displayed in the alternative Société des Artistes Indépendants (Society of Independent Artists).

Founder of pointillism

Seurat went down in history as the founder of the scientific-objective artistic movement pointillism, which seeks to reflect the movement of light in nature. Pointillism reflects all surfaces in the form of scattering points. The result radiates energy so effectively, as if the painting glows. Many dots make up an image that appears to vibrate within its composition. This is very similar to the modern technique of creating a photo collage from miniature individual photographs. But Seura does it more subtly and gracefully. At one time, the creator of pointillism was very inspired by Ingres (he absorbed a sense of structure and composition from his work), as well as the romantic Delacroix (from whom Seurat drew the power of color).

Seurat received this honor after the painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" was exhibited. A vivid example of punatilism and the apogee of the artist's fame. And the painting we are analyzing, The Powdery Woman, is the key work of the outstanding collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art created in the 1920s by the tycoon Samuel Courteau himself.

The powdery woman

This portrait, painted by Seurat from about 1889 to 1890, coquettishly depicts the artist's model. All the traditions of portrait painting of that time were violated in this work. There is a play of contrasts: the heroine has a huge chest, but a miniature table. The plot is reminiscent of the Rococo style (especially the toilet scenes of Watteau and Fragonard). There are those who have seen snobbery in an attempt to make a working-class woman bourgeois. But how wrong they are. This is a picture of recognition. And with a self-portrait of the artist … But where is he? Everything in order.

Seurat's acquaintance with Knobloch

Seurat made frequent summer trips to coastal cities. And on his return from one of these trips (in 1889 he went to Belgium, where he exhibited at the Salon de Wingt in Brussels), Seurat met 20-year-old model Madeleine Knobloch, a representative of the working class. She became his muse and beloved woman. When Madeleine was already pregnant with their common child, the couple moved from Seurat's studio on the 7th floor of Boulevard 128 Clichy to a small room in a quiet house at the Passage of the Arts. Seurat acknowledged the paternity of his son, born on February 16, 1890, and entered the child's name, Pierre Georges, in the civil registry. At his exhibition at the Salon of the Independent in the same year, he showed his only portrait with the model Madeleine Knobloch - "The Powdery Woman". Even after a long time, neither family nor friends knew about Seurat's secret beloved woman and child. According to one biographer, Seurat inherited from his father a tendency towards secrecy and self-isolation.

An unhealthy lifestyle and grueling work led to Seurat's poor health and subsequently a high susceptibility to infections. Paul Signac, Seurat's closest friend and creative associate, wrote that the artist often ate only a croissant and a small chocolate bar so as not to waste his precious time. The same Signac once wrote with sadness that: "Our poor friend killed himself because of overwork." At first, Seurat became infected with diphtheria and died, and after 2 weeks his son also died. It is significant that Seurat and his family lived in a very small area (about 5 square meters). Overcrowding and cramped conditions are a known transmission factor for diphtheria. Relations with Madeleine were a great secret, not only from his bourgeois family, but also from bohemian friends. Soon after Seurat's death, the woman was given some of his works as an inheritance. She accepted them, but cut off all communication with his family. Madeleine herself died of cirrhosis at the age of 35.

The plot of the picture

Seurat's portrait depicts an imposing woman about to powder her face. She sits on a chair in front of a small table. On it is a miniature mirror and a powder box. In the picture, the heroine's eyes are lowered, looking at the cushion itself. She has a strong-willed face. Her lush presence is a source of visual ecstasy. This is a delightful and lively figure, a gorgeous image of solid curves that echoes her hair and powder compact. The splendor of the forms, of course, contrasts with the fragile dressing table and mirror. The round forms of the composition abound in rhythmic dance: hair, chest, arms, folds of her dress.

In the portrait with the powdery woman, Seurat painted many white, red, flesh-colored dots, gold, brown and purple colors. From an artistic point of view, there is no wall or table, but only a form. The wallpaper behind the heroine, with its spiral pattern, vibrates and expands like a soufflé.

But where is Seurat's self-portrait hidden here?

The artist's presence in the painting is hidden in one curious frame on the wall. Now there is a cute floral still life, and initially it contained a portrait of Seurat himself. It was rumored that the vase in the window symbolized the artist himself admiring the beautiful lady. But one of their faithful friends advised him to remove his portrait, otherwise they might find out about a carefully hidden secret. Even by the time of the exhibition of the painting in 1890, no one knew about the true personality of Knobloch. And only 130 years after the painting was created (1888–1890), researchers discovered that the artist had originally painted his portrait in place of the flower.

The first owner of the painting was the famous French critic, anarchist and art dealer Felix Feneon, who coined the term "neo-impressionism". The painting is currently in the Courtauld Institute of Art.