The pearl necklace 

Jean-François Portaels made this oil-on-canvas painting, titled "The Pearl Necklace," sometime in the late 19th century. The painting's subject matter may seem straightforward, but the materials themselves—oil paint and canvas—were only available due to vast economic systems. Pigments like ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli, had to be imported from abroad. The canvas itself, though made from humble linen, also speaks to global trade networks. Portaels’s technique is equally revealing. He built up layers of paint, creating a smooth, almost porcelain-like surface. This was in line with academic painting of the time. Although, if you look closely, you can detect the individual brushstrokes, especially in the rendering of the woman's ornate dress, elaborating on the significance of labor and skilled handwork. By attending to the material reality of painting, we can see how the entire image is tied to wider issues of labor, politics, and consumption. It challenges any simple distinction between fine art and craft.