Heures Du Matin. Mlle. Laure Deveria c. 1830

Editor: Right, let's talk about "Heures Du Matin. Mlle. Laure Deveria," a lithograph from around 1830 by Achille Devéria, currently residing here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. My initial feeling is…intimacy. The woman, lounging there in her extravagant morning dress, it feels like catching a glimpse into a very private moment. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Intimacy is a perfect word! For me, it's the suggestion of a world beyond the image, like a fleeting reverie. The softness of the lithograph lends a hazy, dreamlike quality, don’t you think? It’s almost as if Devéria captured not just a portrait, but the very essence of a morning mood. But I also see an irony – ‘morning hours’ yet dressed to the nines… Where do you think this falls on the spectrum of portraiture? Does it read as 'genuine' or contrived? Editor: I think there's definitely some staging going on – maybe somewhere in-between? But you're right, there's that hazy, almost… wistful quality that pulls me in. And thinking about Romanticism, with its focus on emotion, does that relate? Curator: Absolutely! Romanticism turned the inside out, prioritizing emotionality. So, in this piece, is Devéria trying to externalize a certain inner state of Mademoiselle Deveria? Look at how her gaze is slightly averted, as though lost in thought, yet the deliberate display of wealth contradicts it all, posing some lovely and, shall we say, delicious conflicts. Editor: That’s such a great point – that tension! I see it now! I was so caught up in the 'private moment' aspect that I totally missed the public display element. Thanks so much for unpacking that. Curator: My pleasure! It's that delicate dance between the inner world and outward performance, the visible and invisible, that makes Romanticism, and Devéria in particular, so eternally fascinating. There are echoes of this "public display" playing out today, don’t you think?