Young Girl Fixing Her Hair 

Sophie Gengembre Anderson made this painting using oil on canvas. The smoothness of the surface and the radiant color palette are achieved through precise brushwork, blending, and layering. This highly skilled technique gives the painting its characteristic look and feel. The young girl's elaborate hairstyle may appear effortless, but is in fact a feat of craftsmanship. In the Victorian era, cultivating and maintaining such an intricate style demanded significant time and effort, often assisted by servants or stylists. This highlights the socio-economic context, in which appearances were meticulously crafted. The attention to detail in the folds of the girl’s dress and the arrangement of her hair, invite us to consider the labour and societal expectations embedded within the image. It also challenges our tendency to separate ‘fine art’ from the many other ways in which creativity is invested in the material world.