Portrait of Dmitry M. Mordvinov 1820

This is George Dawe’s “Portrait of Dmitry M. Mordvinov”, an oil painting. Dawe was an English portrait artist who made a career in Russia, painting military figures like this one. The materiality of the painting is part of the message. Oil paint has a capacity for realism, and that quality is enhanced by the artist's attention to the fine details of the face and uniform. But it is just as important to consider the social context of this work. Dawe was commissioned to paint over 300 portraits of Russian generals. That scale of production raises important questions about labour, skill, and the division of artistic work, suggesting a factory-like approach. The intense labor of war, and the labour involved in making paintings of war heroes are both present, though one is obviously foregrounded. It reminds us that all images are made, and that the process of their making carries a significance of its own.