Story of a Portrait

1
Story of a Portrait

• François-Xavier Fabres Lord Holland

2
Table of Contents

• Topic Slide
• Title Page 1
• Table of Contents 2
• Biography of Lord Holland 3
• Hollands Early Politics 4
• The Political Atmosphere of Europe 5
• Political Cartoons of the Whigs 6
• The Grand Tour 7
• Commissioning of the Portrait 8
• Biography of Fabre 9-10
• Why Fabre? 11
• Social Factors 12
• Political Factors 13
• Neoclassicism
• Aesthetics 14
• Comparing Fabre and David 15
• Other Paintings 16

• Topic Slide
• Themes 17
• Creation of the Portrait 18
• Iconography 19
• Hair 20
• Clothing 21
• Color 22
• Ring 23
• Chair 24
• Background 25-26
• Other versions of the painting 27
• Provenance 28
• Image Summary 29
• Bibliography 30

3
A Whig is Born

• Henry Richard Fox, Third Lord Holland
• Born November 1773, Orphaned at the age of 5
• Raised by his Uncle Charles James Fox, who was
  the leader of the Whig party
• Uncle influenced his future in politics.
• Holland was otherwise extremely shy and
  introverted.

4
Hollands Early Politics

• The Whig party was a liberal political
  affiliation situated in England
• Charles Fox (pictured behind) turned the Whig
  faction into a political party called the Foxites
• At an early age, Holland was on his way to taking
  his place as the head of the Whig Party
• The Holland House became the center of Whig
  society and politics
• The ideals discussed within the Holland House
  greatly influenced and shaped Hollands thoughts.

5
The Political Atmosphere

• The French Revolution altered Europe by replacing
  the monarchy in France with republicanism,
• Causes of Revolution poor economic situation,
  high rate of unemployment, unmanageable national
  debt caused by Louis XVI's enormous amounts of
  spending, religious intolerance, and a rise of
  enlightened ideas
• The French Revolution was nearing the end of the
  Radical phase
• 1794- Robespierre executed and Reign of Terror
  was brought to an end
• The Whigs were in support of the French
  Revolution because it supported their defense of
  political liberty against the uncontrolled power
  of the monarch.
• The members of the Whig party believed in
  constitutional monarchism instead of absolutism.

6
Political Cartoons of the Whig Party
7
The Grand Tour

• The Grand Tour marked an educational rite of
  passage for wealthy individuals. On their
  extravagant tours of the European Continent,
  students were exposed to contemporary and ancient
  art and architecture as well as fashionable
  European society .
• 1791-1796- Lord Holland completed a Grand Tour by
  visiting France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria
  and Denmark.
• On the Grand Tour, he met his future wife
  Elizabeth Vassall
• In order to commemorate this journey, many
  commissioned portraits.

8
Commissioning the Portrait

• Lord Holland commissioned several portraits from
  Fabre
• Portraiture often functioned as a representation
  of the stability and continuity of an
  aristocratic familys heritage and wealth.
• They were commonly ordered during important
  events such as the Grand Tour.

9
Fabre

• Born at Montpellier on April 1, 1766
• Trained under Jean Coustou and, after moving to
  Paris, the master of French Neoclassical
  painting, Jacques-Louis David.
• Awarded the Prix de Rome in 1787 for
  Nebuchadnezzar Slaying the Sons of Zedekiah
• His winning the Prix de Rome earned him a place
  at the French Academy in Rome

10
Fabre continued

• The revolution caused the disbandment of the
  French Academy in Rome
• Government no longer had enough money to
  commission history paintings
• Portraiture became the necessary art to make
  money
• Fabre moved to Florence and became a renowned
  portrait painter
• In Florence, Holland and Fabre met.

11
Why Fabre?

• Hollands decision to commission Fabre for his
  portrait was probably a result of the social
  connection and political similarities between the
  two men as well as the popularity of the
  Neoclassical style in which Fabre painted.

12
The Social Scene

• During the Enlightenment, salons were a major
  component of aristocratic social life.
• This allowed the interaction between political
  figures, such as Holland, and artists like Fabre
• Holland and Fabre met through the salon of the
  countess of Albany, Louise de Stolberg
• Fabre had a good reputation within the Florentine
  social circles and among English travelers.
• The Hollands viewed themselves as patrons of the
  arts due to their proclivity toward international
  knowledge of arts.
• Holland probably chose to patronize Fabre because
  he was an accomplished student of the famous
  David.

13
Political

• Although Fabre was against the revolution, his
  style of painting had political ties with the
  ideals of the revolution and Whigs.
• The Whigs supported the anti-despotic and
  aristocratic ideals of Neoclassicism
• Detested Gothic style because of its affiliation
  with autocracy and religious superstition.
• Romanticism contained too much emotion to be
  reasonable and was sympathetic to lower classes.

14
Neoclassicism Aesthetics

• Fabres strict Neoclassical style followed his
  mentors (Davids) style
• Aesthetic Characteristics of Neoclassical
  painting
• Mix of saturated primary colors and subdued
  background colors
• Strong lines with no blurring
• Use of Greco-Roman subject matter
• Moral-didactic subject matter

15
Fabre and David Similarities in Style

• Bold primary colors in the foreground
• Neutral, subdued background
• Use of strong, solid lines
• Both men wear similar clothing
• Emphasis on the hands as a telling sign of
  occupation or personality

Portrait of Lord Holland by François-Xavier Fabre
(1795)
Self Portrait by Jacques-Louis David (1794)
16
Other Neoclassical Paintings
Count Henri-Amédée de Turenne by Jacques-Louis
David (1816)
Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David
(1784-1785)
17
Neoclassical Themes

• Neoclassicism coincided with the revolutionary
  idealization of the ancient Greco-Roman society
  and government
• Society was seen as perfect
• Representative government provided liberty and
  stability
• Celebration of masculine virtues

18
Creation of the Portrait

• Holland commissioned the portrait around the year
  1795, shortly after meeting Fabre.
• Different symbols within the three versions of
  the painting show a close collaboration between
  the artist and the sitter.

19
Iconography

• While the items in the painting are a
  representation of Lord Holland, they also play a
  role in depicting a particular character that
  both the artist and sitter wanted to portray.
• Lord Holland probably took full advantage of this
  opportunity to illustrate himself as the rightful
  heir to the Whig Party
• This is seen through his hair, clothing, and
  accessories.

20
Hair

• Hollands short hair style was referred to as a
  Brutus crop after the famous betrayer, or a la
  guillotine after the beheading device used
  during the French Revolution
• Wigs were associated with tradition and
  counter-revolutionary sentiments.
• 1795 tax on powder for wigs was implemented
  Tories continued to wear wigs to support the
  government, while Whigs wore short/natural hair
  to support the revolution
• Analysis has shown that Holland may have
  originally worn a wig, or at least had longer
  hair, in the portrait.
• The portrait was most likely altered to
  illustrate Hollands political sentiments.

21
Clothing
Hollands dress is dignified without being overly
ornate like the dress coat on the right (1770)
that many aristocrats wore in their portraits.
Solitaitre bow from Diderots Encyclopedia

• Typical fashion of a Whig at the time short
  coat, pants, and a gold waistcoat.
• Clothing is refined yet simple to suggest
  equality among all revolutionaries, rich and poor
  
• Revolutionary principles of liberty and freedom
  carried over into fashion, as the revolutionaries
  broke away from traditional rules of formality

22
Color

• In this portrait, color itself can be considered
  a symbol
• Colors and their political association
• Court Party blue.
• Independent (Anti-Union) dark grey.
• Squadrone Party green.
• Tory Party red.
• Whig Party yellow.
• Hollands yellow waistcoat shows his loyalty to
  the Whig party
• The dark, rich color of his coat also shows his
  support for the Revolution.

23
Ring

• Hollands cameo ring is believed to symbolize
  multiple aspects of his life.
• It can display his loyalty to antiquity because
  cameos often showed classical figures.
• It could be a symbol of his intent to marry
  Elizabeth Vassall, which was a very controversial
  issue at the time.
• It also demonstrates a certain family legacy as
  rings during the time were often passed through
  families as symbols of rank and prestige.

Cameo ring, like Hollands, engraved with a
classical figure.
24
The Chair

• The chair in the portrait is a Directoire-style
  chair
• Inspired by classical antecedents
• Intricately carved animal (appears to be a lion
  or a dragon) by Hollands hip stands out as the
  most prominent part of the chair
• European taste for neoclassical style

25
Background

• Sparse background with a subdued palette, clear,
  well defined lines and a realistic appearance
  common for Neoclassical paintings
• The engaged pilaster on the wall is the only
  detail in the background
• Engaged pilaster is reminiscent of Greco-Roman
  Architecture
• Not painted in Grand Tour destinations (ruins,
  the Parthenon, etc.) like most tourists

26
Ancient ruins were often used as backgrounds in
neoclassical portraits, especially portraits of
artists or aristocrats on the Grand tour.
27
Other Versions of the Painting
?National Portrait Gallery, London
Current Study ? Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill

• Three versions of the painting exist and in each
  version, the hair varies in length and style.
• The differences show a collaboration between the
  artist and the sitter to create an image that
  characterizes Holland as the heir of the Whig
  Party.

28
Provenance

• The painting was originally passed on to Caroline
  Fox (granddaughter of the 1st Lord Holland) and
  her husband General Sir Napier
• Philip Napier (great-grandson of Caroline Fox)
  sold estate and painting to Brian Thompson in
  1966
• 1982 auctioned at Sothebys to Colnaghi
• Ackland purchased painting on July 14, 1987

29
Summary of Artwork Used in Presentation

• Slide 1
• Fabre, François-Xavier. " Henry Richard Vassall
  Fox, 3rd Baron Holland."
• Music Mozarts Poco adagio/ Sinfonie Nr. 36
• Slide 3
• Reynolds, Joshua. Charles James Fox
• Slide 4 (clockwise from left side)
• Unknown political artists
• Slide 6
• Panini, Giovanni Paolo. " View of Modern Rome."
• Slide 8
• Fabre, François-Xavier. "Lucien Bonaparte."
• Slide 9
• Fabre, François-Xavier. "Portrait of an Official,
  Said to Be l'Intendant Delonay, Standing Above
  Florence."
• Slide 10
• Fabre, François-Xavier. "Portrait of Vittorio
  Alfieri."
• Slide 11
• Troy, Jean-François. " A reading of Molière."
• Slide 12
• David, Jacques-Louis. "The Tennis Court Oath,
  Versailles."

30
Bibliography

• David, Jacques-Louis. Count Henri-Amédée de
  Turenne. Image Gallery Artstor. Firefox. UNC
  University Libraries. 9/8/2006 .org.
• Dunlap, William. Major David Van Horne. Image
  Gallery Artstor. Firefox. UNC University
  Libraries. 9/8/2006 .
• Naujoks S., Natasha. Lord Holland and
  Francois-Xavier Fabre The Politics of
  Neoclassical Portraiture. Blackboard. November
  2006. rameset.jsp?tabcoursesurl/bin/commocourse.pl?co
  urse_id_196631_1
• "Neoclassicism." Wikipedia. 20 11 2006. 22 Nov
  2006 .
  
• http//www.creativelatitude.com/articles/aricles_l
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