Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 2d Joseph Badger Questions: |
Portrait of Abigail Gowen
The subject, Abigail Gowen, was about five years old when Badger painted her portrait. Abigail's blue eyes dominate her small, solemn face. Light gray ruffles and a bow decorate her deep-gray dress. Her hairpiece is adorned with bright blue flowers.
The flatness and incorrect proportions of Badger's portrait recall the provincial style of English portraiture. Abigail Gowen poses stiffly before a neutral gray backdrop, which gives little indication of a THREE-DIMENSIONAL space. Badger used only minimal MODELING in dark and light to convey any roundness of form. Although Abigail's head is slightly large for her slender body, the blushing cheeks, round chin, and tiny mouth suggest that Badger captured a good likeness of her.
During the 18th century, it was customary for a sitter to pose for the artist only during the painting of the face. The other details of clothing and background could be added later. Therefore, an artist might use the same clothes, poses, and other details in several portraits.
Early artists had to make their own paint by grinding
pigment and mixing it with linseed oil. The type of paint
used by portraitists was often the same paint that house
painters used. Typically, the colors faded in time. Since
blue was more stable than other colors, it has remained the
brightest.
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