The Madame B Album c. 1870s

Curator: Allow me to introduce "The Madame B Album," dating from around the 1870s, now residing here at The Art Institute of Chicago. This album appears to weave together photography, watercolors, and colored pencil. What strikes you most upon first viewing it? Editor: The whimsy is disarming. Four figures, presumably Madame B in different guises, perched upon snow-laden branches forming a circle. It has the air of a Victorian-era dream. Is there some historical context we should know about this artist? Curator: Indeed. Though identified only as Madame B, she was in fact Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier, a French photographer. Her work challenges traditional gender roles within the arts, actively subverting expectations. Editor: So, the photograph becomes a signifier of constructed identity. Each woman enacts a distinct pose and wardrobe. Do the cyclical forms themselves carry some message, outside of mere decoration? Curator: Possibly the circle signifies cycles of womanhood, cycles of nature… cycles that exclude men or male activity? There's a sense of insularity here. The bare winter branches, overlaid with fresh snow, could symbolize both a barren period and one of renewal. The contrast speaks volumes. Editor: Symbolically, it’s quite loaded, as the tree motif often implies life, death, and rebirth. The snow adds a layer of purity, perhaps reflecting an idealized version of femininity as constructed within that era... though a rather aloof form of it! It's interesting how she merges photography and painting; were there particular trends during that time? Curator: Certainly. Albumen prints allowed for hand-colouring and manipulation, offering avenues for creative expression, however Madame B uses water colours in an illustrative fashion rather than just simple coloring. And France, of course, was at the vanguard of photographic innovation. Her practice can also be viewed through a lens of class and privilege. She has the time, materials, and space to produce this ornate album. Editor: And what do you make of that emptiness at the center? It acts as an open question to me, suggesting something incomplete, maybe an elusive feminine essence? Curator: A blank canvas, waiting to be written, or, dare I suggest, reclaimed. Madame B and her self-portrait may speak for themselves... We may also allow silence, too. What she means by the missing central piece is forever left unsaid... perhaps a space that, when we encounter the picture, we as viewer get to occupy. Editor: Intriguing thoughts, indeed!