Two Market Women 1789

Jacobus Perkois created "Two Market Women," a drawing on paper now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The piece immediately strikes one with its delicate rendering of figures using fine lines and subtle washes of color, focusing on texture and form. The composition presents two women engaged in what appears to be a commercial transaction. Perkois carefully articulates the fabrics and textures of their clothing. The woman on the left, seen from the back, is adorned in layered skirts of patterned material, capped with a large hat that directs our gaze downwards, inviting us to study the construction and detail of her attire. In contrast, her companion directly faces us, her shawl a bold, graphic statement against the soft modeling of her face. The baskets they carry, meticulously rendered, suggest the everyday realities of commerce and labor. The contrasting directions, one facing us and the other with their back, imply the artist's understanding of semiotics, using signs to convey the complex social codes of the 18th century. Through his delicate yet precise rendering, Perkois invites us to consider the formal qualities of line and texture as signs that construct meaning in the artwork.