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Head of a Young Woman

Creator

French Artist · 1749–1803

In forging a successful career as a portraitist, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard had to overcome an unwelcoming male-dominated art world. Labille-Guiard was often described as a bitter rival of the best-known woman painter of the time, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun, but this rivalry was in fact the invention of male artists and critics threatened by their female competitors. After Labille-Guiard's Salon

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Date: 1779
Medium: Pastel, on paper, mounted on canvas
Culture: French
Department: Drawings
Institution: Getty Museum

A young woman, reclining on a pillow, turns toward a presumed visitor; her wide-eyed gaze, one of delight and anticipation. As she turns, her white gown falls away, revealing her upper torso. A soft light bathes her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes and also highlights the glossy sheen of her hair cascading down her left shoulder. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard used the delicacy of the pastel medium to capture the sitter's eroticism. Rather than depicting a specific individual, Labille-Guiard created this imaginary portrait to convey a moment of sensual awakening. This type of fanciful portrait became popular in France in the mid-1700s.

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