A Painting a Day

Young Woman Drawing(1801) by Marie-Denise Villers

I recently took a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my good friend Kevin and saw this painting. We were immediately took with this specific piece. The lighting was the first thing we both noticed. The lighting comes from behind the subject which is not very common for the time period. There is something very alluring about this portrait. It’s as if we have walked in on a very private moment of the young woman’s, one that we weren’t supposed to see. But she doesn’t look dismayed to see us, quite the opposite. She seems almost glad and welcoming, albeit surprised. She looks quite young and this is popularly thought of as a self portrait.

On an interesting side note, this painting was also wrongly attributed to the artist Jacques-Louis David for many years. It hung in the MET under that artist’s name until quite recently when it was re-ascribed to the rightful artist Marie-Denise Villers.