Today is the celebration of abolitionism in French Guiana. This painting of Marie-Gillemine Benoist exibited in the Salon de Paris (1800), six years after the slavery abolition by the Convention, is considered as a symbol for women's emancipation and black people rights (source wikipedia). This work which has been acquired by Le Louvre Museum is presented here as a contribution to the 10th of June celebration.
Marie-Gillemine Benoist (1768-1826)
Portrait d' une femme noire - Original title Portrait d'une Négresse, 1800, Musée du Louvre
There are few key entries to "read" this work and to eventually get an overall interpretation: the biography of M.-G. Benoist, the problems she encountered as a woman to study in men's atelier under the Ancien Régime, the respective influences of Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and Jacques-Louis David on her painting style, the identity of the portrayed woman, … they are widely detailed on the web or in museum guides not be repeated here.
En passant, few years before, Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793), beheaded during the French Revolution, was also a significant figure fighting for women rights and abolitionism. She should be mentioned as well.
Ce portrait représentait une domestique ramenée des îles par le beau frère de l'artiste. L'attitude du modèle, le fond discret, la sobriété efficace du graphisme et du coloris renvoient à la leçon de David, qui fut le maître de Madame Besnoist.
Acquis en 1818, inv. 2508
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