Portrait of Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland 1791

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun created this portrait of Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland with oil on canvas, demonstrating considerable technique. But let’s pause to think about those materials, and the social context from which they emerged. Oil paint is an interesting thing, isn’t it? So smooth, so blendable, so capable of capturing skin tones and textures. The way it handles light – that’s a big part of its appeal. But what is oil paint? Pigment and oil, of course, but of specific types. Linseed, walnut, poppy. All plant-based, all processed. The pigments, too – ground minerals, often sourced from afar. Creating this painting was thus predicated on a whole network of labor – agricultural, industrial, and artistic. This connects the image to a global economy. We see the beautiful end result, but should also recognize the material and social relations that made it possible. It pushes us to consider the amount of work involved in the production process, and to see the painting not just as an image, but as the result of complex interactions of materials and labor.