During the period in which, “A Lady on her Day Bed” (1743)was crafted, Rococo was the popular style of art. Rococo was meant to be more graceful and natural as opposed to typical strict symmetrical art (Erica Trapasso). The painting is true to classic Rococo style in terms of color. Pastels and soft fabrics are everywhere. This picture represents wealth and fantasy. The woman is a symbol of the perfect life with the perfect wife. The background behind her has a more realistic vibe. The colors are less vibrant and fantasy like. A strong theme of the painting is reality vs. fantasy. The woman in the picture is wearing a white flouncy dress with light pink detail. Her sleeves are decked out in ruffles and pushed up to her elbow, exposing her dainty wrist with a watch on it. The lower part of her leg is scandalously peeking out of her dress, wearing a pair of heeled of slippers. The woman is pale with pink rosy cheeks. She seems to be smiling seductively at the camera. She is lying on a luxurious day bed. It’s very glamorous and girly in its baby pink color. Also on the bed there are many expensive looking pillows, propping the woman up. Behind her, the wallpaper is hanging awkwardly off the wall. Aside from the woman and her daybed, the only other equally delicate subject in the painting stands behind her against the unfinished papered walls. It looks elegant and expensive and it holds a costly looking tea set. Contrary to all of that, the rest of the room is a more yellow tone-color scheme. There is a little desk and a rich red plush stool. There are clothes on the stool and stray paper on the desk. It is generally quite messy throughout the room. The painting was actually created by a well acclaimed Rococo style painter named, Francois Boucher (Perrin Stein). Many of his painting were inspired by his wife. In this picture he painted his wife in the way he thinks she should be. Her rosy cheeks make it seem like she is healthy, full of life, and well taken care of. She has an obvious glow surrounding her. He wants her to be beautiful more than he wants her doing house work, which might be why the place is so messy. Wealth is obviously something important to them,: her dress must have been quite expensive, as well as the bed and the tea set. The painting represents the fashion of the late 1700’s. Big, layered sleeves were in. Wearing hats, like hers, was something very usual for that time (Linda Baumgarten). From her clothing, it is obvious that Mrs. Boucher was clearly a fashionable and wealthy woman. .This painting was done shortly after they moved into this apartment. The wallpaper is hanging off of the wall as if it was an unfinished project. The place was messy because they weren't finished unpacking the whole place. The details in the background depict what was really going on. It is an interesting contrast against the perfect looking girl on the bed. Maybe the painting is a representation of Reality vs. Fantasy in terms of perspective. Even though the house is a mess and things are not really in their place, the hecticness of the picture is comforting rather than overwhelming. I think this is because the eye is immediately directed towards the subject of the painting, his wife. She is so elegant that it makes you assume that her surroundings would be elegant too. Without much inspection, I think it seems like a beautiful woman on a beautiful bed. If you change the perspective of the situation it might seem like she is a lazy woman lying idly while her house is in chaos. Spaced between the massive skyscrapers of the Upper East Side, is a glamorous, old fashioned, and enormous, house. It seems to be made of grey stone. The gates surrounding the place ensure a level of privacy and security while adding an element of importance to the general ambiance. This house is the current home for Francois Boucher’s painting, “A Lady on Her Day Bed.” It is currently on display in the South Hall, alongside other famous works like, “Lodovico Capponi”, by Agnolo Bronzino and “Still Life with Plums”, by Jean-Siméon Chardin (The Frick Collection)
The house is massive and the inside is not lacking in grandeur at all. There are many different rooms to discover and explore. Each one is filled with exquisite works of art ranging from painting to furniture to sculptures. Even the wallpaper, in some of the rooms, are painted with beautiful precision.
When you enter the building, as a guest, you step into a magnificent entry hall. Inside there is a lot of stone and dark wood. It had a very castle-like feel to it. There is a stunning chandelier in the center of the ceiling. The ceiling was actually one of my favorite parts. It is a ridiculously intricate wood carving. It adds a warmth and sophistication the the house. From the entryway you go into the reception area to buy tickets. This was not in the original home but was later added to service visitors. From there you can go through a number of different hallways and doors to numerous amounts of rooms. My favorite rooms were the West Gallery and the Garden Court. The West Gallery had the most paintings out of all the other rooms I saw. They were really thought-provoking and it was a really interesting experience going around the room along with tens of other people. The Garden Court is an outdoor area in middle of the house containing thousands of vibrantly colored flowers.
Each individual painting tells a story on its own but the general collection of them all created an overall wealthy, intellectual, and sophisticated feeling to the place. From the state of his home it is obvious that Frick was the kind of guy who valued art above mostly everything. He must have felt it was a good environment to raise his children. Maybe he thought the surrounding creativity would rub off on them. Maybe he thought it would rub off on himself. Or, perhaps he just liked pretty things.
I love how important nature is to the house. The indoor and outdoor gardens are major attributes to the general appeal. I just wish we were actually able to go outside and look around more.The natural beauty outside of the house is such a contradiction to the interior. It is full of man-made art and things that were bought and acquired. .Tthis part of the house argues an environmentally conscious stance. The inside argues a wealthy and glamorous stance. Henry Clay Frick did not have the easiest life. The monument he left to the world makes is clear that through all of his struggles, art was something he admired. The art is not only framed on the walls or mounted on tables but it is weaved throughout the entire home. Frick liked expensive things and he liked to live luxuriously but he also found inspiration and hope in the many kinds of art throughout his home.
Works Cited Baumgarten, Linda. "History.org: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Official History and Citizenship Website." Looking at Eighteenth-Century Clothing : The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. Boucher, François. A Lady on Her Day Bed. 1743. The Frick Collection, New York. "The Frick Collection." The Frick Collection. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. "Frick Collection in United States , The Frick Collection Is an Art Museum Located in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It Is Housed in the ..." N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. "The Frick Collections Gardens." Gardenvisitcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. Simkin, John. "Henry Frick." : Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. Stein, Perrin. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." François Boucher (1703–1770). N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. TRAPASSO, Erica. "A Brief History of Rococo Art." : Rococo Painting — Artnet Insights. N.p., 15 July 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. |