Still Life In Leyster's Self Portrait

In Self Portrait, Leyster exhibits the still life that is common in the Northern/Dutch Baroque period emphasizing on color and light. Leyster was best known for her happy scenes of couples, families, and Dutch social life, painted her subjects enjoying themselves through common everyday activities. Leyster’s painting displayed this and also shows a similarity in herself with the violinist in the background, both painted to display their profession and the simple enjoyment they both had in it. Leyster paints herself as she wishes to be seen, wearing her somewhat formal attire with an extravagant lace collar, while holding her art brushes, painting the style of painting she is known for. This is not what an artist would have actually been painting in; it is much too fancy and would be hard to work in with the size of the collar. The clenching of paint brushes in Leyster’s left hand does not seem like a realistic manner of which a …show more content…
The extreme detail Leyster put into her attire adds to her desire to be seen as the upper class, serious, and talented artist she was.
Similarly, Honore Daumier portrayed his Realist style focusing on everyday lives of the working class during difficult years in Third-Class Carriage, as stated by The Metropolitan Art Museum, “Realism emerged in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1814 that overturned the monocracy of Louis-Philippe and developed during the period of the Second Empire under Napoleon II. As French society fought for democratic reform, the Realists democratized art by depicting modern subjects drawn from everyday lives of the working class.” (par.1) Daumier exhibited the harsh reality of the working class during this time period in the family displayed in his painting. It is obviously clear this family, as well as the other passengers, is of lower class. The carriage is dark and dull and with minimum lighting, showing the common way the lower class