Justine De Young FDGA 2017
June 28, 2017
Dear Members of the Faculty Development Committee and Academic Affairs Office,
Thanks to the generous support of a 2017 Faculty Development Grant Award I was able
to pursue two research projects this June in Madrid and Lisbon. The first builds on
research I pursued early last summer on the figure of the 19th-century equestrienne
(an amaZf)ne in French). In Madrid, I was able to study closely Edouard Manet's 1882
Amazone at the Museo Thyssen-Bomemisza (Fig. 1). This is one Manet's last major works
and the most important in his series depicting the vexing and transgressive equestrienne
in her severe, tailored, masculine dress. Manet's importance as the leader of the
Realist and Impressionist schools make consideration of his treatment of the amazone
essential to my book chapter (which is part of my larger manuscript, Womenin Black:
M odern Won1en, Modern Arl, &the Paris Salon, 1864-1884). Seeing the work in person
revealed several new facets to me, including about her choice of accessories (a handkerchief
rather than a riding crop as many have suggested previously) and about Manet's manner
of handling the paint.
In both Madrid and Lisbon, I was also able to see many important 19th-century male
portraits including several by Edgar Degas as well as more conventional examples,
which will form the basis of my invited talk at the Nineteenth-Century French Studies
conference this Fall (November 9- 11, 2017) "Making the Modem Man: Fashion and Male
Portraiture in Impressionist Paris." In Madrid at the Museo del Prado and Museo Nacional
del Romanticismo, I examined portraits by Federico de Madrazo y Kiintz, Raimundo de
Madrazo and Thomas Lawrence. Both Madrazos were leading male portraitists during the
Impressionist era, but due to their Spanish nationality (and the father's directorship
of the Prado) the majority of their works are held in Spain. While the Prado does
not allow photography, I had the opportunity to study the portraits closely first-hand,
observing fashion details as well as nuances of color, technique and brushwork that
are imperceptible in reproduction. Degas's Se!f Porlrait and portrait of fellow artist
Henri Michel-Lel!J at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon also revealed themselves
in surprising ways-among them, the scale of both works proved quite different than
my expectations, underlining how essential in-person observation is.
While in Madrid and Lisbon, my research and teaching also benefited immensely from
the opportunity to see the vast historical holdings of the Museo del Traje (Madrid)
and Museu Nacional do Traje (Lisbon). It is exceedingly rare to be able to see period
garments, but both national costume collections have permanent historical galleries
where I was able to document details of dress and construction. In Lisbon, the garments
were viewable at 360 degrees and not under glass, which was a remarkable opportunity--especially
for the rare 18th century pieces. All this vital primary research supports not only
my book chapter on the amazone and future book project on 19th-century men and fashion,
bu t also my upcoming conference lecture and my teaching of art and fashion history
here at FIT.
Thank you so much for your support,
CYg
Assistant Professor
History of Art Department