La Philosophie 1800

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon made this drawing of a woman, La Philosophie, using black and white chalk on blue paper. The choice of materials here is interesting; Prud'hon is working with familiar, inexpensive media, but creating an effect of classical sculpture. Notice how the light plays across the figure’s draped clothing, creating the impression of three-dimensionality. The blue paper acts as a middle ground, allowing the artist to build up shadows with black chalk and highlights with white. Drawing was a critical skill for any artist in the 18th and 19th centuries, and chalk was often the medium of choice for preparatory studies. Prud'hon, though, elevates the status of the sketch by using these materials to create a finished work of art. In doing so, he blurs the lines between the fine arts and the more workaday practices that underpinned them. This points us towards the essential labor of artistic production.