Gustave Courbet
Portrait of a Spanish Lady
circa 1855
This is ‘realism’ through the eyes of the nineteenth century. Little is known about this woman other than that she is a young Spaniard and is presumably of middle class society. Her dress is generously layered with lace and fine satin or silk: either it is a costume or ‘prop’ that the artist had ready for her to wear (this being a common custom for centuries already) or it is the lady’s own. Considering the time period and Gustave Courbet himself, it is more likely the case of the latter. It is clear that, no matter her position or status at the time, Courbet painted the Spaniard in such a way that does little to matte her natural glow; or to accentuate any false sense of grace. This is a portrait that shows the lady as she is: relaxed, thoughtful and refreshingly simple in rustic beauty. She is not trying to impress the viewer. She seems to be barely aware of even the artist, and of maybe herself. The colours and contours of this picture are what speak for her - the violent red of backdrop hinting of a fiery heart and head, and of a southern sun and culture; and her blue dress visually easing and cooling any suggestion of a tumult, teasingly pulling our eyes upwards along her sensual, womanly figure to a bay of white skin, and then to a pair of lips and eyes and proud eyebrows. And as if the climax of it all, she seems to have just released her hair, allowing it to cascade over both fire and water - joining them, equalising them - when only seconds before the restricting comb may have symbolised an inner war yet unwon.
