David, Jacques Louis
– Mme Recamier nee Julie Bernard (1777-1849). Part 1 Louvre

Description of Jacques Louis David’s painting Madame Recamier

Madame Julie Recamier, mistress of a fashionable salon in Paris and a famous beauty, commissioned her portrait from the famous artist Jean Louis David. During the process of making the portrait, the painter could not get used to the meager light in the room, so he did not succeed in his work.

Madame Julie even wanted her portrait to be finished by another famous artist, François Gérard. However, David asked Madame Recamier to leave the portrait unfinished, which he regretted for a long time afterwards. And in vain, as the minimalism of detail made the portrait unique in its own way.

The canvas depicting the woman attracts with its simplicity and lightness. On the canvas, the picture of a girl, dressed in a modest white sundress, reaching up to her ankles. Her hair is decorated with a ribbon. The artist portrays her as a playful lady, but at the same time the connoisseur shows the virginity of her beauty. The artist’s sinuous contours qualitatively depict the female figure. Perhaps if David hadn’t stopped working, the fashionable accessories of the time would have been added to the portrait and the painting would have become too shiny. Watching the painting, you can notice the languid look of Julie, as if she is trying to say something, but restrains herself. David understood perfectly well that the difficulty of the work is not in the environment that surrounds him, but in the mood of the model herself. Youth and sharpness are her main qualities, it was very difficult to cope with them.

Famous collectors are still discussing exactly the stage of writing the masterpiece "Portrait of Madame Recamier". The painting is filled with vitality and restless inner state of the artist, which attracts all connoisseurs of art.