Princess Karoline Luise von Hesse-Darmstadt
Jean-Etienne Liotard
Description
The subject of the portrait, Margravine Karoline Luise von Baden — born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt — laid the foundation for the collection of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe with the approximately 200 artworks she had acquired. Liotard depicts her here, elegantly dressed, as a princess, also primarily as an artist in front of an easel. Liotard taught her the medium of pastel; for his own pastels he was admired throughout Europe. Characteristic of his (and Karoline Luise’s) working method is the softly rubbed surface.
Highlights
0:00
0:00
Collecting and painting
Without the self-confident young woman in this painting, the Kunsthalle collection would look very different today. The passionate art collector laid the foundation for today’s museum with her painterly cabinet.
Princess Karoline Luise, later Margravine of Baden, was not yet married when her teacher Jean-Etienne Liotard immortalised her working at her easel in 1745. The Princess wears a fine silk dress and a powdered wig.
The royal blue coat with ermine trim thrown carelessly over the chair also emphasises her high social rank. What seems surprising is the rather austere setting, with large empty areas that look almost modern.
The painting princess
The Princess handles her paint stick like a professional. She’s about to start a pastel drawing on the parchment sheet. Karoline Luise mastered the highly-regarded, delicate, powdery pastel technique of the time so skilfully that the Copenhagen Academy accepted her as a member.
This portrait by the celebrated pastel artist Liotard captivates us with its extremely finely executed colour transitions. It is precisely this highly-finished quality that Karoline Luise treasured in other works of arts. She possessed not only a feeling for quality, but also a great deal of expertise and determination. The masterpieces from her collection exhibited here and in the adjoining halls are the proof.
Jean-Etienne Liotard kept this portrait in his personal collection. It was acquired in 1979 for the Kunsthalle from a Swiss private collection.
Dates and facts
| Title | Princess Karoline Luise von Hesse-Darmstadt |
|---|---|
| Artist | Jean Etienne Liotard |
| Date | 1745 |
| Measurements Painting | H 62.5cm B 48.5cm |
| Material | Parchment |