Heures Du Soir. Mme. Gide c. 1830

Curator: This lithograph, entitled "Heures Du Soir. Mme. Gide," was created around 1830 by Achille Devéria. The print is an example of early 19th century French Romanticism and now resides here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Ah, it's all about elegant repose, isn't it? Just the way she leans slightly into the music…there’s such a tangible sense of calm. Like she’s creating her own little world through the keys. Curator: Precisely. We can view the work as a window into bourgeois domestic life in post-Revolutionary France, examining the expected roles of women within the domestic sphere and the performance of femininity. Note how musical skill was highly valued. Editor: Performance, yes! See that frothy, glorious collar? It’s almost comical. As if she’s swallowed a cloud of lace, or perhaps it symbolizes the performative aspects of her social standing. I'd guess it also served to bring visual focus to her face. Curator: That's a astute observation of visual strategy, but to take it further, we might also consider the restrictions placed upon women's agency during that period and the ways in which those constrictions are embodied within domestic settings and gendered roles. She seems hemmed in by the piano, her posture very self-contained, despite that glorious collar. Editor: Yes, hemmed in… yet, perhaps her world expands when her fingers grace those keys? Maybe this is an intimate rebellion. And notice how her gaze is fixed just to the left of us, maybe she acknowledges the limited freedom granted to her, without any resignation. The Romantic artist certainly grants her subjectivity and grace. Curator: I agree, the artist subtly grants a certain agency to her, despite her role. "Heures du Soir" offers a look at 19th century gendered dynamics that continue to resonate today, particularly around expectation, aspiration and domesticity. Editor: It seems, beneath its gentility, there’s a simmering energy here. Music, a window, even that ornate picture in the background hint at life just beyond reach. An ordinary, but powerfully emotive scene.