Contemporary Drawing at the MOMA New York

Amelie Von Wulffen copyright 2009

To better understand the state of contemporary drawing practice, I visited the show "Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection" now on at the MOMA. Curator Christian Rattemeyer selected from this collection of 2500 drawings to present several hundred works. Contemporary artists from around the world are represented but are mostly clustered from New York, LA, UK, and Germany. Divided into abstraction and figuration, the work illustrates the fact that artists have stepped outside the traditional definition of drawing on paper to include the use of unconventional media, with many incorporating collage and appropriated images into their work. Really, anything goes these days!!

My favourite pair of images were by Elizabeth Peyton and David Hockney. Although somewhat traditional in style compared to what was on display elsewhere, the simplicity and elegance of their line was captivating to me. Another image that still haunts me is an emaciated horse and rider created out of cigarettes, although I cannot recall the name of the artist.

This exhibition is beautifully hung and there is lots of space to stand back and appreciate the work. If you are interested in contemporary drawing practice, this show is well worth a visit. And if you cannot make it to the MOMA before the show closes on January 4, 2009, the MOMA website includes an enlightening video with the curator.

Portraits of Marie Antoinette

Portrait of the Archduchess Marie Antoinette by Martin van Meytens the Younger, 1767-1768 (Schonbrunn Castle, Vienna)

In the many portraits of Marie Antoinette, she is portrayed with smooth, white skin, blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, a high forehead, and an aqualine nose. In the Portrait of the Archduchess Marie Antoinette by Martin van Meytens the Younger shown above, painted before she left for the French court, she seems to be perfection personified.

In spite of this lovely image, it's been said that Marie Antoinette was not considered especially beautiful. Apparently, her "Habsburg jaw and prominent nose were a bit heavy for eighteenth-century taste" (Source: "The Art of Dress" by Aileen Riberio, Yale University Press, 1995). As well, there are few images of MA in profile because she was self-conscious about her aqualine nose.

In the letters between Marie Antoinette and her mother (1770-1780), she makes several references to the portraits being painted of her and that she does not think they have achieved a proper likeness. Here are two extracts from her letters to her mother:

Marie Antoinette to Maria Theresa, 13 August 1773
"I am being painted, right now; it is true that no painter has yet caught the way I look: I would happily give all I own to anyone who could express in a portrait all the joy I would feel in seeing my dear Mama; how hard it is to be able to kiss her only by letter." (page 117).

Marie Antoinette to Marie Theresa, 16 November 1774
"The painters kill me and make me despair. I delayed the courier so as to allow my portrait to be finished; it has just been brought to me; it looks so little like me that I cannot send it. I hope to have a good one next month." (page 155)

(Source: Secrets of Marie Antoinette by Olivier Bernier, 1985)

As an artist, I know how difficult it is to achieve a likeness when painting a portrait. And even if all the features are precisely in place, considerable skill is required to capture the spirit of the sitter and translate that onto canvas. I wonder if the portrait artists mentioned in Marie Antoinette's letters failed to flatter her sufficiently to win her approval or were lacking in sufficient skill to capture her likeness.

After her mother's death, Marie Antoinette sat for several portraits with Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun. One of her portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette was exhibited at the Salon of 1783 and depicted the Queen wearing a chemise gown causing tremendous controversy. The portrait was withdrawn. To read more about Madame Vigee Le Brun, please refer to my earlier posting on the subject.

Queen Marie-Antoinette by E.L. Vigee-Lebrun, 1783, National Gallery of Art, Washington

I'd hazard a guess that Marie Antoinette would not have liked the contemporary portraits of her painted by Elizabeth Peyton.

Marie Antoinette Painted by Elizabeth Peyton

I was in New York on the weekend and did a fair share of gallery hopping including a retrospective of Elizabeth Peyton's work at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. "The Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton" show, sponsored by Banana Republic, features about 100 of her intimate portraits of friends, family and figures from the worlds of art, fashion and politics.

I knew that she painted rock stars but I wasn't aware that she was also fascinated by royalty. What a lucky coincidence for me to discover two paintings of Marie Antoinette painted by Elizabeth Peyton.
This small 8x6 inch oil painting by Elizabeth Peyton from 1995 is called "Marie Antoinette between Germany and France on her Way to be Married".


This oil painting of Marie Antoinette by Elizabeth Peyton from 1994 is titled "Marie after Vigee LeBrun".

I have always admired Elizabeth Peyton's loose, emotive style and had bought a book called "Elizabeth Peyton" (Rizzoli, New York, 2005) several years ago. Not having seen any of her work except in the book, I had the mistaken impression that Peyton's portraits would be on huge canvases and at the show I was surprised to see the small, intimate size of her paintings.

It inspired me to try Peyton's free and loose style of brushwork and I dashed off a painting based on photos of Anne Hathaway dressed as "Queen Anne" in W Magazine last month.

I would recommend a visit to the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York to see the show of Elizabeth Peyton's work which spans two floors. The show is on until January 11, 2009. But if you cannot go in person, I recommend buying the book "Elizabeth Peyton". It is definitely the next best thing to being there.

New Museum of Contemporary Art
235 Bower at Prince Street, New York City, USA
212-219-1222