Alice Goudry 1827 - 1835

Eliza Goodridge painted this portrait of Alice Goudry with graphite on ivory. This delicate technique of painting on ivory demanded incredible skill; thin slices from the tusk create a smooth, luminous surface, but are prone to cracking. The artist built up the image with tiny strokes, creating subtle gradations of tone. The effect is a lifelike image, capturing the subject’s likeness with an immediacy not possible in larger-scale oil paintings. The choice of ivory as a support connects to the global networks of trade and consumption during the 19th century. The sourcing of ivory involved colonial exploitation, which becomes part of the picture in this portrait. The labor involved in acquiring and preparing the material, as well as the skill required by the artist, is embedded within its intimate scale. Considering the social and material context helps us to see this portrait not just as a record of a particular individual, but as a product of its time, reflecting both artistic ingenuity and complex histories of labor and extraction.