The Ballerina 

This is Zoe Mozert’s ‘The Ballerina’, likely created in the mid-20th century, using oil paint on canvas. Mozert made her name producing pin-up art, designed for mass reproduction. Oil paint, of course, has a long history, but here it is put to a decidedly modern purpose. The artist uses traditional techniques like blending and glazing, but the desired result is less about conveying a sense of the model's inner life, and more about capturing an idealized image of beauty. Consider the labor involved. Not just Mozert’s skill with a brush, but also the work of the model, who had to pose for hours. And perhaps most importantly, the labour of countless printers, who put this image into circulation for a mass audience. In the end, Mozert’s painting reminds us that all art objects, even those seemingly straightforward, are the product of complex social and economic forces. It challenges us to look beyond the surface and consider the full story of how an image comes into being.