The Grand Odalisque (also known as Une Odalisque or La Grande Odalisque) is a painting currently located at the Louvre in Paris, France. It is 91 x 162 cm and was made in 1814 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a French Neoclassical painter who re-imagined Classical and Renaissance sources for more 19th century tastes. Ingres drew inspiration from Giorgione and Urbino, though this painting is directly drawn from the 1809 Portrait of Madame Récamier by Jacques-Louis David, who was his mentor. The Grand Odalisque was commissioned by Napoleon’s sister, Queen Caroline Murat of Naples.
The painting shows a nude woman in a decorative headpiece lying down upon a lavish blue bed. Though her back is turned to the viewer, she looks over her right shoulder, creating an odd curve to her back. Her right arm looks oddly long and rests across her leg, a feather fan clutched lightly in her hand. The woman is depicted as a concubine for a sultan.
What makes this painting so interesting is the fact that though it used inspiration from older paintings and shows techniques that are often reflected in Neoclassical paintings (clean lines and defined figure), Ingres distorts the woman’s body in an unnatural way. Her back looks almost too long, and so does her right arm. In comparison, her legs and face look a bit small. This distortion caused critics to see this work as a rebellion against the contemporary style of form and content; it took a very long time for this painting to be seen as a masterpiece. These stylistic choices have caused this painting to be a major starting point for discussions about the male gaze and the female subject.
I’m intrigued baby the final line of this post: “These stylistic choices have caused this painting to be a major starting point for discussions about the male gaze and the female subject.” What is the nature of those discussions? Why would the work’s stylistic choices have prompted them?