Woman with a Book, Pablo Picasso, 1932 / Madame Moitessier, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1856
(Picture: © The National Gallery, London / © Succession Picasso/DACS 2021 / photo The Norton Simon Foundation )Room 46 at the National Gallery is an intimate space, just the size to see a few works in close proximity. Not long ago, it hosted Gainsborough’s Blue Boy alongside portraits by Van Dyck that had inspired it. Now, we find just two pictures side by side, by Ingres and Picasso, separated by more than 80 years in time and by a revolution in artistic form. And yet, the one unmistakably derives from the other.
Madame Moitessier is an opulent figure, painted in the grand formal style, with a finger to her temple, not so much supporting her head as indicating repose. Her expression is enigmatic, with a Mona Lisa smile. And thank goodness for the expanse of white bosom and shoulders that separates her face from her frock, because her dress is made of the kind of riotous floral pattern, with matching trimmings, bow, fringes and whopping brooch, which would overwhelm a less Junoesque figure. The bare arms only accentuate the bracelets of many gems. Now this is conspicuous consumption: Monsieur Moitessier got his money’s worth from his wife’s Lyons silk dress. And for good measure we get the lady from behind too, her elaborate lace hair ornament visible in the mirror.
