The Madame B Album c. 1870s

This quirky watercolor and graphite collage comes from the hand of Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier. Fournier created this as part of an album, in the late 19th century. The artist has combined painting and drawing with a photographic portrait, and even some printed ephemera to create this curious character. It is as if the figure is an assemblage of different trades – note the reference to a 'Heraldic Stationer and Designer' running down the figure's right side. This hints at the booming commercial activity of the period. Fournier has paid close attention to the materiality of paper and its potential for combination. By uniting these various elements, she encourages us to reconsider the value and social meaning of these different media. It is a potent reminder that so-called ‘high’ art is always embedded in the wider world of making and consumption.