Mrs. William Hartigan 1787 - 1796

Carl Fredrik von Breda painted Mrs. William Hartigan using oil on canvas. The first thing that strikes you is the oval composition and the contrast between the dark, almost black dress, and the light skin of the sitter. Breda’s construction of Mrs. Hartigan uses a fairly standard, formal approach: the curve of the sitter’s figure mirrors the arc of the painted oval, each echoing the other. The face is softly lit, and a slight blush warms her cheeks. Her gaze is directed to the left, but just beyond the viewer, inviting us into her space, if not her thoughts. The folds of the dress are barely indicated, a formal touch that suggests the sitter as an ideal, rather than an individual. Note how the formal balance is disrupted by the red curtain swooping in from the upper right. It both fills and fractures the composition, reminding us that this is paint, not life, artifice not reality. While the overall effect is pleasing, the painting remains a construction, an arrangement of forms that invites us to look beyond the surface and consider the structures that uphold our understanding of art and representation.