art 782 Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Description of Georges Seurat’s painting The Powdered Woman

In 1890 the artist exhibited this painting for the first time at the Exhibition of Independent Artists, where it was basically unnoticed by the jury and the audience. On the same day his other painting "Cancan" was exhibited, the radically different work "The Powdered Woman" was sidelined.

This strange painting had been questioning the jury’s understanding of it for some time. Its depiction of his lover Madeleine Knobloch was for a long time hidden from discussion by Sera. No one knew about their relationship, because they already had a child. The artist was secretive about everything, and in matters of personal life - even more so. Until now, it is not even known how the young people met and in what year.

When the picture was presented to the public, even his friends had no idea, through his work he confesses his love for his Muse, being a confirmation of his admiration for the beauty of Madeleine. The portrait elicited only a smile and sarcasm from the audience.

The painting echoes more of the popular 18th-century boudoir scenes described in French painting. Here, Seurat emphasizes strange details.

The peculiarly satirical image of a woman who is admired in the mirror signifies vanity and narcissism. It is not known what the element at the top on the left side implies. Someone read that the artist depicted himself as a pot of flowers, which is always near his beloved.

The dimensions of the table, which stands on crooked ugly legs, are so small as to emphasize the woman’s opulent forms. The oval mirror, decorated with a pink ribbon, is matched in style to the wallpaper patterns. All this entourage emphasizes defiantly bad taste, which introduces a note of humor into the picture.

However, Madeleine did not think so. When the value of his paintings rose sharply, she decided to keep the work in her collection.