Family Portrait, 19th Century

Oil on canvas, family portrait, with its original wooden frame, relined. In the mid-19th century, the bourgeoisie, both actors and beneficiaries of the Industrial Revolution, sought to leave posterity with an image of its economic and social success. Lacking noble lineage, they celebrated the family, the keystone of this new bourgeois model. The challenge then became to craft an image while simultaneously constructing a genealogy, a historical legitimacy. Under the July Monarchy, the number of portrait painters exploded. These were primarily academic portraits aimed at immortalizing a family. This academic style persisted well into the 20th century. The painter then charged for his portrait based on the number of hands, and prices skyrocketed for full-length portraits. Our painting particularly well expresses the mother's position in the bourgeois family: she is at the center of the composition, dignified and calm, reigning over her home as well as her family. The father is protective. Conformity in dress, strict attire, seriousness, and patriarchal authority are the main psycho-sociological characteristics of this family group. Not a note of gaiety... at first glance! Then, the eye finds a gently ironic expression on the father's face; one almost smiles! Just like the mother, who hesitates and would like to as well. Each face perfectly reflects the "true nature" of the model, and the painter, adding touches of whimsy here and there, invites us to question these singular characters... was it at the family's request? ... to conform to conventions... but not quite?! 19th century, France. Price is not negotiable.