Golden Tresses 1865

Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Golden Tresses with oils on canvas. Rossetti’s choice of oil paint allows for the rich luminosity and texture of the subject’s hair. Look closely at the tools that she uses: combs, brushes, and ornate jars that speak to a world of personal adornment. These items are arranged on the table like a still life, as if to draw attention to the laborious and time-consuming ritual of beauty. Hair itself has always carried cultural significance, signifying beauty, status, and femininity. The Pre-Raphaelites were fascinated by the aesthetic possibilities of long hair, seeing it as a form of visual excess. But the depiction of a woman at her toilette also raised broader questions around the labor that went into creating these images of ideal beauty, both for the subject and the artist. Paint, canvas, brushes, and time are brought together to give us this scene. Considering the materials and making of art challenges our understanding of beauty, and its relationship to both labor and value.