Isabella (painting)

Isabella, also known as Young Woman with a Fan[1], is a 1906 painting by Simon Maris. It is currently in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[2]

Isabella
ArtistSimon Willem Maris
Year1906
MediumOil on canvas
SubjectIsabella
Dimensions41 cm × 29 cm × 11 cm (16 in × 11 in × 4.3 in)
LocationRijksmuseum, Amsterdam
AccessionSK-A-2931

Description
Photograph of Isabella in Simon Maris' studio, 1906, Negative, 124 x 101 mm. The Hague, Simon Maris and Family Archives.

The artwork measures 41 by 29 cm, and is composed of oil paint on canvas. The portrait shows a twelve-year-old girl known only as Isabella, posing in Maris' studio at 498 Keizersgracht, Amsterdam.[2] She is sitting in a wooden cushioned armchair, with goat heads carved into the armrests. The subject is holding a fan in her right hand, and her left hand is touching the fan's golden tassel. Her left arm is jewelled with a golden bracelet and her ring finger displays a golden ring. She is wearing a "sumptuous" blue and green dress, and a white and red bonnet on her head. In the background, a mirror can be seen baring her reflection, showcasing the rear of the bonnet and dress.[3]

Other versions

There are multiple renditions of Isabella, also painted by Simon Maris in 1906. The first, titled Portrait of Mrs Allwood with a Fan, is currently held by a private collector and was originally acquired by the De Visscher family of Zeist in the 1920s.[4] Another version, also titled Isabella, is in the possession of Sally Schuman[5] after her grandmother, Anna Maria Lagaay, received the painting from Maris around 1906. Its current location is unknown.[1]

  • Simon Maris, 1906, Mrs Allwood with a Fan, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 57.5 cm, Private collection.
    Simon Maris, 1906, Mrs Allwood with a Fan, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 57.5 cm, Private collection.
  • Simon Maris, 1906, Isabella, oil on canvas, 61 x 43.2 cm, Sally Schuman private collection.
    Simon Maris, 1906, Isabella, oil on canvas, 61 x 43.2 cm, Sally Schuman private collection.
  • A card featuring a reproduction of Isabella, sent in a 1907 letter by Simon Maris.
    A card featuring a reproduction of Isabella, sent in a 1907 letter by Simon Maris.

Dispute over naming of artwork

In 2015, the Rijksmuseum announced it would be changing the titles of a number of paintings in its collection, citing racial sensitivity.[6] Among these works was a portrait of a young black woman by Simon Maris, titled "Young Negro-Girl",[6] which was retrospectively changed to "Young Woman with a Fan". The project, which expected to change the descriptions or titles of over 220,000 artworks,[7] was the subject of a debate over the importance of preserving historical context versus maximising cultural sensitivity.[8][9]

The subject in the painting had previously been described by the art dealer Jan C. Schuller as "little negress" during an exhibition in 1908.[10] A newspaper at the time described the portrait as "the superbly painted 'Little Negress' of very distinguished colouring and conception and with fine painting of the fabric of the clothes and of the fan."[11][1]

The name of the painting intended by Maris himself was revealed in a 1907 letter, where he labeled the piece "Isabella (negress)",[12] along with an inscription on an early version of the artwork that titles it as simply "Isabella".[5] Due to this discovery, the Rijksmuseum once again renamed the portrait in 2020, from the revised title of "Young Woman with a Fan" to its current name "Isabella".[2]

References
  1. LAMBRECHTS, LISA (2020). "From Young Woman with a Fan to Isabella: A Rediscovered Identity". The Rijksmuseum Bulletin. 68 (2): 156–165. ISSN 1877-8127.
  2. "Isabella, Simon Maris, c. 1906". Rijksmuseum. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. "Isabella by Simon Maris". Artvee. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  4. Lot 72: Simon Maris Den Haag 1873 - Amsterdam 1935 portret. AAG Auctioneers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/simon-maris-den-haag-1873-amsterdam-1935-portret-72-c-pm931a0nd4
  5. Correspondence with Sally Schuman, 4 August 2018, Documentation/object file Rijksmuseum sk-a-2931, no. t5-2m.
  6. Veselinovic, Milena (14 December 2015). "Dutch museum renaming art for cultural sensitivity". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. Siegal, Nina (10 December 2015). "Rijksmuseum Removing Racially Charged Terms From Artworks' Titles and Descriptions". ArtsBeat. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  8. Burgess, Kaya. "The art of being politically correct". ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  9. "At The Rijksmuseum, Old Paintings Get New Names | Studio 360". WNYC. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  10. Pieter J.J. van Thiel et al., All the Paint- ings of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: A Completely Illustrated Catalogue, cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1976, p. 367.
  11. 'Tentoonstelling-Schüller in Pulchri', Algemeen Handelsblad, 23 June 1908, p. 6.
  12. rkd, sm (note 1), Vb4 Copy books of sent letters, inv. no. 0257.63, 1906-1919, 1 vol., p. 38
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