Ludmilla Amerling 1847

Curator: This is Friedrich von Amerling’s "Ludmilla Amerling" from 1847, rendered in oil. Editor: It has a serene quality. The girl’s downward gaze gives it a contemplative mood. I’m curious, what catches your eye in this piece? Curator: Look closely at the materials. The way Amerling uses oil paint to depict the girl’s skin, almost porcelain-like, speaks volumes about the value placed on presentation and status. How much did such dresses cost? Also, consider the pigment—the sources and trade routes involved in acquiring those specific shades. Editor: So, you are looking at it more from a historical, material and consumer perspective? Curator: Precisely! How the artist transforms raw materials like pigment and canvas into an object of beauty that simultaneously serves as a symbol of wealth and a document of a particular social moment. Consider also how many sittings were needed. Whose labour allowed the subject leisure time to engage in these practices? Editor: That makes me think about who the painting was made for, and what role she might have played in Viennese society. It gives it an extra layer of understanding that is linked to material and the production that this required. Curator: Indeed. The context and processes are all woven into the materiality of the painting itself, a reflection on consumer society of that time. Editor: Thank you; I will not see portraits quite the same way now! Curator: Excellent, it opens new perspectives into the painting.