Portrait of Madame Charles Hayard and Her Daughter Caroline 1815

Editor: This is Ingres's pencil drawing, "Portrait of Madame Charles Hayard and Her Daughter Caroline," housed here at Harvard. It feels so delicate and precise. What can you tell me about its creation? Curator: Consider the labor embedded in this seemingly simple portrait. Ingres, known for his exacting standards, likely produced numerous preparatory sketches. Think about the societal pressures driving the market for such portraits, connecting artistic skill with bourgeois aspirations and material display. How does the medium of pencil on paper affect our understanding of Ingres's artistic production? Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't thought about the market forces behind it. It does make me wonder about the purpose of portraiture at the time. Curator: Precisely! It elevates craft to high art, revealing the material and social underpinnings of artistic creation.