Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton 1820

Editor: We’re looking at Gilbert Stuart’s 1820 oil painting, "Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton." The way the veil frames her face gives a very soft, ethereal feel. What do you notice in the formal composition? Curator: The preliminary surface impression reveals soft tonalities. A delicate, almost translucent, white dominates. But what structural relationships do you observe between the veil, the face, and the background? Editor: The veil blends with the sky, kind of like they’re one and the same. Is that on purpose, a statement about Sarah’s virtue or something? Curator: Functionally, the wispy veil operates to guide our sight toward the focal plane of her visage. Isolate the color choices to see the intentional direction of your sight. The blush in her cheeks, subtly echoing within the overcast background, creates an asymmetrical symmetry. The colors serve as structural aids. Editor: So it's more about guiding the viewer's eye than making a statement? I guess I was bringing some preconceived ideas to it. Curator: Precisely. It is the composition itself that dictates the affect; not the sitter or our imposed romantic reading. Consider the balance achieved solely through color and light, and the visual pathways created. Editor: I see what you mean! By only looking at the structure, you’ve given me a way of seeing the strategy of portraiture itself. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. I’m glad to have given you the eyes to isolate the aesthetic from external notions.