Between Fiction and Art History: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Abstract

Written and directed by French director Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Sciamma’s fourth feature film, is set toward the end of the 18th century and tells the love story between Marianne, a painter who travels to an island in Brittany for a marriage portrait commission, and Héloïse, the aristocratic model of the portrait. For the upper classes in a monarchy-ruled Europe, marriage was one of the most effective means of protecting and strengthening economic and political interests. The painting of the portrait of Héloïse, who does not want to actualize the marriage arranged by her mother and therefore refuses to pose for the painter, echoes the tradition of marriage: the continuation of the lineage to which the inheritance and the privileges of the family name will be passed down, which also demonstrates the function of the portrait in this tradition. Sciamma, a political and feminist director, centers the portrayal of marriage in her screenplay. The social positions of the women painter, the male and the female gaze, and the stereotypes of the passive female model reduced to a muse—all of which have been the subjects of feminist art history critique since the 1970s—along with the female experience, such as abortion, that is rendered invisible, bring together the emphasis on gender and solidarity, also visible in her other films. In the second half of the 18th century, women became more active in shaping the cultural world through their involvement in art production, commissioning, collecting, art critique, and authorship. During this time, the argument for challenging gender roles was brought forward under the ideology of Enlightenment, which steered the century to determine gender roles of women through the idea of the “course of nature,” before the French Revolution arrived. This study, which focuses on how Sciamma interprets through a feminist perspective in her Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the institutional structure surrounding female artists in France in the 18th century and the painting concept in which women are glorified as mothers and wives, aim to examine and compare the themes of the film that intersect with relevant examples selected from Western art.

Keywords

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• Marriage Portrait
• Héloïse
• Abortion
• Nude

Kurmaca ile Sanat Tarihi Arasında: Alev Almış Bir Genç Kızın Portresi

Abstract

Fransız yönetmen Céline Sciamma’nın senaryosunu yazıp yönettiği dördüncü uzun metraj filmi Alev Almış Bir Genç Kızın Portresi (2019), 18. yüzyılın sonlarına doğru, evlilik portresi siparişi için Bretonya’da bir adaya giden Marianne adındaki ressam ile portrenin modeli aristokrat Héloïse arasında yaşanan aşkı konu edinir. Evlenmek istemeyen ve bu nedenle ressama poz vermeyi reddeden Héloïse’in portresinin yapım süreci, monarşiyle yönetilen Avrupa’da mirasın ve aile adının taşıdığı ayrıcalıkların aktarılacağı soyun devamı anlamına gelen evlilik geleneği ve portrenin bu gelenek içindeki işlevini yankılar. Politik ve feminist bir yönetmen olan Sciamma evlilik portresi merkezinde inşa ettiği senaryoda, 1970’lerden itibaren feminist sanat tarihi yazınında konu edilen sanatçı kadınların toplumsal konumu, eril bakış, esin perisine indirgenen edilgen kadın model kalıbıyla birlikte kürtaj gibi kadınların yaşamından görünmez kılınan deneyimleri, diğer filmleriyle ortaklaşan toplumsal cinsiyet ve dayanışma vurgusunda bir araya getirerek yorumlamıştır. Kadınların sanat üretimi, eser siparişi, koleksiyonculuk, sanat eleştirmenliği, yazarlık gibi kültür dünyasını şekillendiren birden çok alanda aktif bir üretimle var oldukları 18. yüzyılın ikinci yarısı ile Devrim öncesi Fransa’da aynı zamanda yüzyıla yön veren Aydınlanma düşüncesinin belirleyiciliğinde, kadınların “doğaları gereği” ideal rollerinin ne olması gerektiği tartışması yürütülmüştür. Bu çalışmada, Sciamma’nın Alev Almış Bir Genç Kızın Portresi’nde 18. yüzyılda Fransa’da sanatçı kadınları kuşatan kurumsal yapı ile kadınların anne ve eş kimliğinin yüceltildiği resim anlayışını feminist perspektifle nasıl yorumladığına odaklanılarak, filmde sanat tarihiyle kesişen temaların Batı sanatından seçilen ilgili örneklerle karşılaştırılarak incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır.

Keywords

• Alev Almış Bir Genç Kızın Portresi
• Evlilik Portresi
• Héloïse
• Kürtaj
• Uzanan Çıplak

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