Final Post

                My research concentrated on the painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle, Painting of Two Young Women (1778) by an unknown author (previously it was credited to Johann Zoffany). Dido herself was a child of these two merging cultures – her father was an English admiral of noble birth and her mother an African slave who worked in the Caribbean.

                All our posts focused on the influence or exchange between African and Western cultures, instead of highlighting borders as areas of clash between discerning worlds. Sadly, most of these encounters did take place amongst conquest and conflict. However, we concentrated on the historical events that influenced European art and material culture. Our time period ranged from 16^th to 19^thcentury and encompassed Europe, British colonies in the Caribbean, and Africa so it was interesting to witness where our research took us and how our paths diverged and intertwined in certain points.

                My posts focused on how women of contrasting skin tones were sexualized in multiple artworks.  The painter Gérôme was one of the artists who especially developed this trend. Gérôme was interested in European imagery that was inspired by the styles of North or Sub-Saharan African art – what is generally described as Orientalist style. This artist provided European audiences with an exotic, sumptuous, and sexual view of the ‘Orient’.  Europe was fascinated with this part of the world as illustrated in “ethnological” illustrations, photographs, and once travelling became more widespread. Two of his paintings were analyzed in one of my classmate’s post. Two distinct portraits of fierce looking and young soldiers were analyzed – one displays an African man and another Turkish soldier both with intricate tunics, turbans, and a weapon in their hands. These paintings focus on what makes them foreign, ‘non-European’ as the intricate fabrics, dark-skin, ‘unusual’ weapons, and larger lips. The artwork I analyzed, Painting of Two Young Women, followed that same pattern - It highlighted Belle’s exotic features by juxtaposing this character with her fair-skinned, clearly European cousin. Belle, like these soldiers, is not wearing European outfits; she is wearing a light cotton dress and a turban – a piece of clothing extremely associated with the colonies as can also be seen in these Gerome’s paintings.  

Source: Temur Jabiev’s April 9^th post

                In Painting of Two Young Women, the two ladies are portrayed as equals when it came to social-economical status.  This topic was also addressed in the posts on the painting Duchess of Portsmouth (1682). This portrait by Pierre Mignard displays Louise de Kéroualle in a sumptuous gown in a balcony area as she gazes directly at the viewer. On her side she has a young African girl also luxuriously dressed gazing at the Duchess in awe. In the Duchess of Portsmouth there is a clear hierarchy whereas Painting of Two Young Women was controversial for displaying the characters on equal footing.  The young girl in Mignard’s portrait is a servant and is there to highlight the Duchess’ wealth and charity; Dido was portrayed  as a character with agency (she is the focus of the painting) and wealthy (intricately dressed in her own dress, not a donation of a rich benefactor)