Portrait Of Two Children By Jean-Joseph Vaudechamp

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Portrait of Two Children, Probably the Sons of M. Almeric Berthier, comte de LaSalle 1841 by Jean-Joseph Vaudechamp is currently at the Dallas Museum of Art. An extensive description of the image above including medium, dimensions, technique, style, composition, and content is, as noted. The medium that is used is oil paint. The dimensions overall are 46 inches by 35.24 inches. The technique used is oil on unprimed canvas. The style of the work is specified as an American art painting. The composition of the work may be broken down into eight parts. Unity, balance, movement, rhythm, focus, contrast, pattern, and proportion. The unity in this work all belong together, and there is nothing that is creating an awkward configuration. The balance …show more content…

The focus of the work is on the highlighted faces of the children, especially on the eyes, nose, lips, and jaws. The contrast viewing the light usage is medium to high between the colored clothing and the deep muted background including black and green tones. The pattern of the work can be seen in the pants of the boys and the vertical lines following from the top to the bottom of the shirts allows even more symmetry to be formed. The proportion of the children are accurate to the form of what the human face should have, yet there are no strong gender trait differences between male and female (creating androgynous children), thus it is required to read the title description in the art piece. Androgynous children is a widely seen reoccurrence through artwork during this period so it is common for the differences of gender in children to be few. There are equilateral triangles found in the frame of the faces (using the bottom lip to the eyes as a guide) and there is no abnormality to the shapes of the bodies seen. It is important to note the lower legs and feet are cut out of the portrait and may change the real proportions that may …show more content…

The audience would therefore be adults or patrons of the arts and would not include children in this event. This audience would include individuals of high society and individuals within the court at that period of time or individuals who hold particularly high ranking within the social ladder. This audience would be able to distinguish that these boys were fashionable and stylish along with following the French Napoleonic decadence world that would be desired in New Orleans,

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