Installation view of Art of the Americas + Europe, 2021, Phoenix Art Museum.

Before photography and social media, the 18th century aristocracy commissioned artists to create large-scale portraits to symbolize their power in society. Take, for example, this portrait of Madame Adélaïde, daughter of King Louis XV and aunt of King Louis XVI, who ranked second only to Queen Marie Antoinette in the French Royal Court.

One of the most magnetic larger-than-life portraits in the PhxArt Collection is that of Madame Adélaïde. Madame Adélaïde was a princess—the daughter of King Louis XV and aunt to King Louis XVI—and ranked second only to Queen Marie Antoinette in the French Royal Court.

This ambitious portrait from the #PhxArtCollection was created by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, who was among a shortlist of woman court painters. Commissioned before the French Revolution, the portrait showcases Adélaïde’s complex loyalty to the French monarchy through elaborate, symbolic displays of fashion and decor. Next to the portrait of Madame Adélaïde in our Art of the Americas + Europe galleries hangs an image of her sister, Madame Victorie, painted by Marie Antoinette’s official portraitist—and Labille-Guiard’s rumored rival—Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Both Madame Victorie and Madame Adélaïde fled France during the French Revolution.

Labille-Guiard created several renditions of Madame Adélaïde’s portrait, showcasing the princess’ complex loyalty to the French monarchy through elaborate, symbolic displays of fashion and decor. She is depicted holding a porte-crayon (an instrument designed to hold a stick of chalk) in her right hand, and a rag in her left, which rests on the elaborate easel that she is working on. The artwork on her easel portrays her late parents and brother, with her pose illustrating that she, too, is an artist in her own right. The painting is a visual masterpiece. Viewers may feel like they can step inside the work—a time capsule from a momentous time in French history. Madame Adelaide (c. 1787) is on view in the Art of the Americas + Europe galleries. Learn more about our exhibitions at: https://phxart.org/art/exhibitions/

Image credits: Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Madame Adelaide, c. 1787. Oil on canvas. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds provided by an anonymous New York foundation. Installation views of Art of the Americas + Europe, 2021, Phoenix Art Museum.
Works cited: Chudnow, India. “1787 – ADÉLAÏDE LABILLE-GUIARD, MADAME ADÉLAÏDE.” Fashion History Timeline. 7 January 2023, https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1787-labille-guiard-adelaide/.
N/A. “Portrait of Madame Adelaide.” Speed Art Museum. 2024, https://www.speedmuseum.org/collections/portrait-of-madame-adelaide/.

The Collection: European and Latin American Art

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