Silhouettes
The Art of the Shadow…
By Chantal Fortune
IPAV
The History of Silhouettes.
The art of shadow cutting originated in Europe in the early 1700's, Silhouettes are black profile portraits set against a light background, capturing the ‘likeness’ of the sitter, they were either scissor-cut from black paper or card and pasted on a white background or painted with black ink on paper, plaster, ivory, silk or glass.
Miniatures portraits and Silhouettes was an intimate form of image-making practiced by many artists across Europe for years until their demise following the rise of photography in the mid-19th century.
Noted artists are William Seville, Mrs. Isabelle Beetham, John Miers, and Augustin Edouart. English and French Silhouette artists that were the best and well known of their time. William Seville and Augustin Edouart were travelling artists, travelling throughout England and both came and worked in Ireland.
In France in the early 18th century ‘Card cut outs’ were done as part of the lavish entertainment at the many extravagant balls and defined the distinguished profiles of the Lords and Ladies capturing the latest fashions and elaborate wigs.
Artist’s also set up booths and stands at fairs, markets and on piers cutting thousands of delicate likenesses of middle-class people, they were cheaper alternatives to painted portraits and could be produced quickly, thus often referred to as ‘the poor man’s miniature’. The plain black profiles could be taken within one to three minutes and cost as little as one to three shillings. Enhancements, such as bronzing or colour, were more expensive but still available for well under a guinea.
In France, prior to the French revolution they were just known as ‘Card cut outs’ and from there after the term Silhouette was used, it derives from the name of Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767).
Étienne de Silhouette the French Minister of Finance who in 1759, under Louis XV, was forced by France's credit crisis to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy.
Monsieur Silhouette was exceedingly miserly and frugal and had brought despair to the French people through unfair tax policies.
Monsieur Silhouette himself enjoyed the hobby of ‘Card cutting’. When he retired early he reputedly moved to a farmhouse in the country, which he decorated with home-made paper cuttings. The saying "We are dressing a la Silhouette. We are shadows, too poor to wear colour. We are Silhouettes!" went all over France.
Thus he was branded ‘a la Silhouette’ and the term was then applied to things perceived as ‘cheap’.
During this period the art form was growing in popularity.
It provided a simple and inexpensive alternative for those who could not afford more decorative and expensive forms of portraiture, such as miniatures, paintings or sculpture. Those who considered it cheap attached the word ‘a la Silhouette’ to it. The name stuck and so today we know theme as Silhouettes. Thankfully, the negative connotation no longer remains.
In England the termed ‘Profile Shades’ or ‘Shadows’ were used originally, but the new name Silhouettes soon caught on as the art form became ever so popular…
Silhouette artists.
Some of the best known and examples of their work:
William Seville (1797-1866)
English Artist. He began cutting silhouettes around 1818. He was a travelling artist from Manchester and worked in Ireland, Scotland and the northern counties of England. His son later worked with him, he was very skilled at the gilding.
In August 1830 Seville was plying his trade in Castletown in Ireland, known from a dated portrait stated in Sue McKechnie's British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860.
And also McKechnie suggests that Seville had returned to Ireland by August 1842, and it is believed that his son was assisting him at the time. His son would have been about seventeen years old by then.
There is a dated and signed family portrait of the Smyth Family of Drogheda done in November 1842, now in private collection.
They used to take the short journey from Liverpool to Ireland across the Irish Sea regularly to work.
He advertised on the 7th of February 1843, working on Sackville-Street, which is now O’Connell Street.
Article extract from Freeman's Journal & Daily Commercial Advertiser,
(Dublin, Ireland), 7 February 1843
Unidentified man, by W. Seville with stamp.
Mrs. Isabella Beetham (circa 1744-1825)
English artist. She ran away from home and married Edward Beetham, an actor. Both Isabella and Edward were from wealthy families, but received no financial assistance because of the families’ disapproval of the elopement. In her hard times, Isabella found that she had a talent for cutting paper profiles. After practicing this form of portraiture for a while, she began studies with John Smart, a successful miniature portrait artist in London. As a result of her training with Smart, she became a master of detail. She painted both on glass and paper. Her trade labels indicated that she also painted profiles to be used in jewelry.
John Miers (1758-1821)
English artist. Although he never trained professionally, John Miers is considered to be the finest of the 18th century Silhouettists. His career began in Leeds when he took over his father's business as a coach-painter & gilder. Having recently married, Miers was keen to expand the business and, in addition to preparing and selling paints, he advertised profile shades in miniature for 2 shilling each. He clearly excelled at this from the start and within a few years this had become his main line of business and prompted to move his family in 1788, first to Edinburgh and eventually to London where he ran a very busy and successful studio.
He worked with a superb attention to detail such as Lace and Hair.
Augustin Edouart (1789-1861)
French-born portrait artist who worked travelling in England, Scotland, America and Ireland. He left France in 1814, and established himself in England, he began work as a silhouette portraitist, taking full-length likenesses in profile by cutting out black paper with scissors in a Booth on Brighton Pier.
Augustin Edouart spent fifteen years touring England Scotland and Ireland, during which time he produced thousand of delicate likenesses, immortalizing a multitude of middle-class families. He preferred to cut out the whole figure, believing that through a sitter’s demeanour and dress a more convincing likeness could be captured. He was most well known for his ‘Conversation Pieces’.
Edouart’s “Profiles of a Lady and Gentleman against a Ruin”, National Gallery of Ireland, from The Mary A. McNeill Bequest, show the full-length figures cut out in black paper and pasted onto a pencil and wash background.
Edouart travelled to the United States circa 1839-1849, visiting New York and Boston. There he was in high demand for his work and he toured successfully for ten years.
Some artists, like Edouart, always doubled his paper to cut two profiles simultaneously retaining the second one for his archive.
He later returned to France, he nearly didn't make it as his ship went down in a storm off Guernsey. Fortunately the passengers were all rescued but he lost much of his precious archive of work.
When back in France he worked very little and only on much smaller silhouettes.
The art of Silhouettes reached its ‘golden age’ in the 1800's, with many artists well established and many amateur artists cutting Silhouettes as a hobby.
Techniques.
Cut silhouettes could either be left plain or embellished with gold, bronze, gray, or white paint to highlight the details of the sitter's costume, lace and hair. Lace fichu’s, collars and chokers are done in exquisite details.
Hats were a popular feature in many pictures.
Beautiful details such as a Bow in ladies hairdos or a Pearl earing hanging from a highlighted ear.
Men’s portraits would often have highlighted collars
And sometimes Silhouette scenes had elaborately painted backgrounds, the technique of the Silhouettes painted on glass and then the framed painted and decorated background.
One technique that was used by artists was a mechanical device called ‘camera obscura’ it assisted with creating the Silhouette by a reflected profile on the screen that could be traced around.
Some artists made it a selling point to cut profiles freehand without the use of any such device, just using a little scissors and hand-cutting the profile out of the black card.
Collecting Silhouettes today.
Silhouettes appeal to collectors for their small scale, kept in glass cabinets or hung on wells as pairs or in a group of different ones in different frames.
Silhouette prices can start from about 50 euro and go up to the high hundreds for some such noted artists like Seville, Mrs. Beetham, Miers or Edouart.
The National Gallery of Ireland hold the annual Silhouettes and Miniatures, The Mary A. McNeill Bequest, exhibition for the month of January every year.
In 1985, the National Gallery of Ireland received Mary A. McNeill’s generous bequest of fifty Miniatures and twenty-nine Silhouettes.
She specialized in collecting Miniatures of Irish artists and of Irish sitters. In relation to Silhouettes, examples by Seville, Miers and Edouart strengthen the Gallery’s Collections.
The exhibition has a wonderful collection!..
Richard Crosse (1742-1810) Reverend Dr. Henry Barnard.
Watercolour on Ivory, NGI.
The Miller’s Antiques Hand Book & Price Guide 2012-2013 have a Family Silhouette by William Seville, with artist’s stamp. 17in wide. Estimated for 700-1,000 English Pounds.
And recently in Adams Auction House,
in their Fine Period Furnishings,
Paintings & Silver Auction, on November 28th 2011.
Lot no.93 A CUT CARD SILHOUETTE
of a Man standing, Edward Kentish MD, Surgeon, RN, 30 x 23cm.
Was Sold for €50.
Sadly the demise of the Silhouette was directly due to the rise of the Photograph.
Photography was invented mid 19th century and soon it was very widely used, it was much cheaper and a perfect ‘likeliness’ for one to have their portrait taken.
Many Silhouette artists became photographers and thus were able to keep their studio’s or artists booths, but they sadly no longer practiced ‘The Art of the Shadow’.
