Portrait of a Black Woman
Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Louvre Highlights
Portrait of a Black Woman
Marie-Guillemine Benoist
In 1800, Marie-Guillemine Benoist, a former pupil of Jacques-Louis David, presented a painting at the Paris Salon. The young artist proved herself worthy of her teacher with this work, which respected the conventions of portraiture and was painted in the neoclassical style. The sitter, shown in three-quarter view, is looking towards us, the brushwork is smooth, the contrasts are clear and the background plain, as in portraits by David. But Marie-Guillemine Benoist did more than demonstrate her painting skills: the model she chose was an unknown black woman, a former slave whom she depicted according to the conventions of society portraiture. At a time when the abolition of slavery was a major issue, the young artist was also taking a stand.
A woman artist and a black model
The art world was male-dominated until the mid-20th century and there are few works by women painters at the Louvre. The subject of this painting – a black woman – is also very rare in Western art history. The ‘APES**T’ video highlights several black figures, including the young woman in this portrait and the man waving a flag on The Raft of the Medusa…A masterpiece can be more than just aesthetic…it can also serve an ideal.