Let’s discuss Boldini’s seductive painting of Lady Colin Campbell!

Giovanni Boldini’s “Gertrude Elizabeth, Lady Colin Campbell,” 1897

Lady Colin Campbell was born into a wealthy family, and her fashion attire in this painting captures their elitist lifestyle. Her costume, a black satin dress covered in a stratum of fabric is so intricately designed, it requires minimal-to-no accessories. Her only jewelry, a set of three gold bangles, are simplistic so as to not appear gaudy, and yet still draw attention to her long, delicate arms. The dress is fitting Lady Colin like a glove and accentuating her curves in all the right places! We will be discussing her seductive gaze in the next blog, but there is more to this portrait than the blatant allure in her eyes (e.g., the fashion) that captures her risqué personality and riveting lifestyle.

The plunging neckline that ends in a point at the center of her chest leads us to a peek-a-boo rose motif that covers her right breast. These curvy lines (which will be discussed in my next blog and can be found in the category titled “four basic visual elements” that explains the four compositional elements all artists use, one of which is the line, to express their personal vision in their paintings) are continued through the bodice, and dramatically define her hourglass figure. Her excruciatingly small, corseted waistline, dramatically contrasted by the gathered trim silk fabric that accentuates her hips, is reflective of her own drama-filled personal life.

Lady Colin was divorced by her husband because of her numerous sexual affairs with multiple different men, and their subsequent divorce trials attracted a great deal of public attention. She eventually became a very successful author and art critic and though shunned by society during the time of her divorce, her unwavering drive and innovative creativity earned her a spot as a respectable person in the literary and artistic world.

There is a fixating allure in the elegant flow of her attire, perhaps because it is being complemented by her carefree, confidence-on-the-borderline-to-cockiness persona, and it can be seen in every nook and cranny of this painting! It’s in the sinuous lines, the dramatic fabric, the suggestive neckline and the contrasting colors, and it screams seduction and female sensuality!