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The interior portrait (portrait d'intérieur) or, in German, Zimmerbild (room picture), is a pictorial genre that appeared in Europe near the end of the 17th century and enjoyed a great vogue in the second half of the 19th century. It involves a careful, detailed representation of a living space, without any people. These paintings were generally rendered as
The interior portrait (portrait d'intérieur) or, in German, Zimmerbild (room picture), is a pictorial genre that appeared in Europe near the end of the 17th century and enjoyed a great vogue in the second half of the 19th century. It involves a careful, detailed representation of a living space, without any people. These paintings were generally rendered as watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
s and required great technical mastery, if little creativity. By the mid-20th century, although such scenes were still being created, photography had changed this style of painting into a form of intentional archaism.
Birth of the genre
The interior portrait should not be confused with what is called a "conversation piece
A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other.cabinet of curiosities. One of the first known examples depicts the library of 
It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that a new type of interior portrait with a different intent made its appearance. This type first arose in architectural firms and was done for the benefit of their clients. Great architects such as the James Adam and his brother
The first historically important example of the interior portrait represents a small art gallery set up by the 
The immense popularity of these paintings in the 19th century can be explained by many factors. Among the nouveau-riche and the bourgeoisie, great importance was given to the home as a place of comfort, intimacy and family. This period also saw a specialization (e.g. separate dining rooms) that were once known only to the very wealthy. These new "middle-classes" were also eager to copy aristocratic tastes and industrialization made a much wider variety of furniture easily affordable. Finally, decorative styles were constantly being changed and resurrected, so interior portraits were a way of preserving one's memories and bequeathing them to the next generation.
At a time when every cultured young woman learned to paint watercolors, many painted their own rooms or the ones where they were given their lessons. Most of the surviving examples are anonymous and rarely of high quality, but they often have a charm that compensates for what they lack in technical expertise.
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no marit ...
in London, dating from 1693. They are still valued today by researchers and decorators. In the case of Pepys, it can be seen, firsthand, how a scholar of that time arranges his books in a bookcase (an innovation at that time), uses a lectern, places cushions for his comfort, hangs maps, etc.
It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that a new type of interior portrait with a different intent made its appearance. This type first arose in architectural firms and was done for the benefit of their clients. Great architects such as the James Adam and his brother Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
of Scotland and François-Joseph Bélanger
François-Joseph Bélanger (; 12 April 1744 – 1 May 1818) was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassic style.
Life
Born in Paris, Bélanger attended the Académie Royale d'Architecture (1764–1766) where he studied u ...
would execute watercolors of their previous projects to entice prospective customers. This created a fad among the wealthy and the nobility to commission paintings of their own rooms, to show off and preserve for posterity. These paintings were often compiled into albums. This craze was particularly prevalent in England. From there, it spread widely throughout Europe.
Apogee in the 19th century
The first historically important example of the interior portrait represents a small art gallery set up by the Empress Josephine
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...
at Malmaison in 1812. In this watercolor by Auguste-Siméon Garneray, we can see her harp, art collection and her shawl, left on an armchair. Thus a new element appears: the psychological elements of the décor and a palpable human presence. One can feel the owner's emotions and thoughts. In this sense, the paintings have truly become "portraits".
The immense popularity of these paintings in the 19th century can be explained by many factors. Among the nouveau-riche and the bourgeoisie, great importance was given to the home as a place of comfort, intimacy and family. This period also saw a specialization (e.g. separate dining rooms) that were once known only to the very wealthy. These new "middle-classes" were also eager to copy aristocratic tastes and industrialization made a much wider variety of furniture easily affordable. Finally, decorative styles were constantly being changed and resurrected, so interior portraits were a way of preserving one's memories and bequeathing them to the next generation.
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
was very fond of these portraits as they allowed her to give the public a look at her loving family life and the comforts of home in a tasteful manner. The craze was thereby spread throughout the Royal Families of Europe. Due to the number of lavishly decorated palaces they possessed (The Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts n ...
, Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
, Gatchina Palace
The Great Gatchina Palace (russian: Большой Гатчинский дворец) is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favouri ...
, Peterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace ( rus, Петерго́ф, Petergóf, p=pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof,) (an emulation of early modern Dutch "Pieterhof", meaning "Pieter's Court"), is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, com ...
, Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace (russian: Павловский дворец) is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by the order of Catherine the Great for her son Grand Duke Paul, in Pavlovsk, within Saint Petersburg. After his death, ...
...), the Tsars were among the most enthusiastic commissioners of interior portraits. Virtually all of their rooms (except the most private ones) were rendered at least once; some several times. These watercolors are considered to be among the best of their genre.
Speciality artists
At a time when every cultured young woman learned to paint watercolors, many painted their own rooms or the ones where they were given their lessons. Most of the surviving examples are anonymous and rarely of high quality, but they often have a charm that compensates for what they lack in technical expertise.Peter Thornton
Peter Kai Thornton CBE (April 8, 1925 – February 8, 2007) was a museum curator and writer.
The son of eminent scientist Sir (Henry) Gerard Thornton and Gerda, daughter of Kai Norregaard, of Copenhagen (and related to the actress, director and ...
, ''Authentic Decor: The Domestic Interior 1620-1920'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986,
However, some members of the aristocracy had real talent, verging on the professional. The Polish Count Artur Potocki
Artur Stanisław Potocki (1787–1832) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic).
Biography
He was the son of Julia Lubomirska and Jan Potocki, the travel writer best known for his novel Manuscript found in Saragossa. Artur was the owner of Krzeszowi ...
, for example, travelled widely, painting watercolors of the hotel rooms and other places where he stayed, from Rome to London.
Nevertheless, virtually all the highest-quality works were produced by professionals with exceptional virtuosity in watercolors and a mastery of perspective...especially conical perspective, with two or three vanishing point
A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpen ...
s, which produces an eerily photographic effect for modern eyes.
With only a few exceptions, such as Jean-Baptiste Isabey
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (11 April 1767 – 18 April 1855) was a French painter born at Nancy.
He was a successful artist, both under the First Empire and to the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna.
Life
At the age of nineteen, after some lesson ...
and Eugène Lami
Eugène Louis Lami (12 January 1800 – 19 December 1890) was a French painter, watercolorist, lithographer, illustrator and designer. He was a painter of fashionable Paris during the period of the July Monarchy and the Second French Empire and a ...
of France, architect John Nash and furniture-maker Thomas Sheraton
Thomas Sheraton (1751 – 22 October 1806) was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture charac ...
(both of England), few artists who dealt exclusively with these portraits are still familiar today. Among some notable artists who produced them, not previously mentioned:
* In England: William Henry Hunt, Mary Ellen Best
Mary Ellen Best (1809–1891) was an English artist. Most active in the 1830s, she usually worked in water-colour, commonly painting scenes of domestic life.
Biography
Early life
Best was born in York in 1809, the daughter of doctor Charles B ...
, William Henry Pyne
William Henry Pyne (1769 in London – 29 May 1843 in London) was an English writer, illustrator and painter, who also wrote under the name of Ephraim Hardcastle. He trained at the drawing academy of Henry Pars in London. He first exhibited ...
.
* In France: Charles Percier
Charles Percier (; 22 August 1764 – 5 September 1838) was a neoclassical French architect, interior decorator and designer, who worked in a close partnership with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, originally his friend from student days. Fo ...
, Adrien Dauzats.
* In Germany and Austria: Ferdinand Rothbart, Rudolf von Alt
Rudolf Ritter von Alt (; 28 August 1812 – 12 March 1905) was an Austrian landscape and architectural painter. Born as Rudolf Alt, he could call himself von Alt and bear the title of a Ritter (knight) after he gained nobility in 1889.
Biogra ...
, Eduard Gaertner
Johann Philipp Eduard Gaertner (2 June 1801, Berlin – 22 February 1877, Flecken Zechlin, in Rheinsberg) was a German painter who specialized in depictions of urban architecture.
Early life and work
Education
In 1806, he moved with his ...
, Emanuel Stöckler
Emanuel Stöckler (24 December 1819, Nikolsburg - 5 November 1893, Bozen) was an Austrian painter, notable for his interior portraits.
Life and work
His father was a pharmacist who wanted him to become a doctor. His interests took another turn ...
.
* In Russia: Eduard Hau
Eduard Hau (Russian: Эдуард Петрович Гау; 28 July 1807 in Reval – 3 January 1888 in Dorpat) was a Baltic German painter and graphic artist.
Life and work
He was the son of painter Johannes Hau, who had emigrated from Northe ...
, Vasily Sadovnikov, Konstantin Ukhtomsky, Grigory Chernetsov, Nikanor Chernetsov (his brother), Alexander Brullov
Alexander Pavlovich Brullov (, spelled Brulleau until 1822, when the family name was changed according to Russian pronunciation, sometimes also spelled Brulloff; 29 November 1798 – 9 January 1877) was a Russian artist associated with Russian ...
, Karl Brullov
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в; 12 December 1799 – 11 June 1852), original name Charles Bruleau, also transliterated Briullov and Briuloff, and referred to by his friends as "Karl the Great", was a ...
(his brother), Pyotr Sokolov, Orest Kiprensky
Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (russian: Орест Адамович Кипренский -) was a leading Russian portraitist in the Age of Romanticism. His most familiar work is probably his portrait of Alexander Pushkin (1827), which prompted th ...
, Alexey Venetsianov
Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (russian: Алексей Гаврилович Венецианов; 18 February 1780–4 January 1847) was a Russian painter, renowned for his paintings devoted to peasant life and ordinary people.
Life
Alexe ...
.
* In Poland, Aleksander Gryglewski.
Recent expositions
* ''House Proud: Nineteenth-century Watercolor Interiors from the Thaw Collection'', Cooper-Hewith National Design Museum (a division of the Smithsonian, New York, 12 August 2008 – 25 January 2009 * ''Mario Praz - Scènes d'intérieur'', Bibliothèque Marmottan,Boulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department an ...
, 20 November 2002 - 15 February 2003
References
Further reading
* Patrick Favardin, ''Scènes d'intérieur, Aquarelles des collections Mario Praz et Chigi'', Norma, Paris 2002, * Patrick Mauriès, ''Alexandre Serebriakoff. portraitiste d'intérieurs'', Franco Maria Ricci, Paris 1990, {{ISBN, 978-88-216-2038-6 Visual arts genres