The Invention of the Model

Although mastery of the representation of the human figure was central to art making as early as the fifteenth century in Europe, in the nineteenth-century French imagination the artist's model became identified as a distinct social type and cultural trope. This study of the artist's model in Paris between 1830 and 1870 incorporates three histories: a social history of professional models, a cultural history of models as social types, and an art history of representations of the model in elite and popular visual culture.

'... Waller's Herculean work in the archives is palpable... Waller thereby finds that rare thing, a research topic in French nineteenth-century art previously left comparatively untouched by scholars, making her book an invaluable contribution to the field.' French Studies 'Waller's study [...] includes numerous illustrations, which make a welcome addition to the literature on this subject... this book contributes valuable insights to the social history of art. It contextualizes the bodies portrayed in paintings and sculpture and introduces myriad questions and issues for further investigation.' Journal of Modern History

Autorentext
Susan Waller is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, USA

Inhalt
Contents: Introduction; Part I Professional poseurs: The model in académies; Models in the École des Beaux-Arts; The stereotypical modèle; Negotiating the stereotype; Part II The vulgar model: The unmodest model; The modèle (lorette); From the streets to the Salon; Courbet's The Studio of the Painter; Part III Ethnicites and modernities: The Jewish community in Paris; The modèle (juive); The modèle (italienne) in the academic tradition; Modèles (italiennes) in Rome; Modèles (italiennes) in Abruzzi; Modèles (italiennes) in Paris; Epilogue; Select bibliography; Notes; Index.