More about Self-portrait of the Artist hesitating between the Arts of Music and Painting

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Angelica Kauffman by Bettina Baumgärtel

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Women, Art and the Politics of Identity in Eighteenth-Century Europe by Melissa Hyde

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Emily Browne

Contributor

Way back when Angelica Kauffman was deciding what she wanted to do with her life, she was torn between her two passions, art and music.

She was so distraught at the difficulty of the decision that she went with her father to consult a priest in their home of Milan, who told her that while music would offer fast and easy rewards, it would be too distracting from her role as a devout young lady. So we have that priest to thank for the groundbreaking artist that is Angelica Kauffmann. 

Reflecting upon that decision forty years later, Angelica began the painting, Self-Portrait Hesitating Between Painting and Music. Music on the left has sheet music in her lap and is holding Angelica’s hand and Art on the right, wearing primary colors, has a color palette in her hand. By the demanding and somewhat pissy look on Art’s face and her insistent finger pointing her towards painting, we can see that Music was never going to win the battle for Angelica’s passion. And by the look on Music’s face, she knows that. Poor, sad Music.

So we know this painting is incredibly straightforward and not much is left to the analyst. Obviously, Angelica Kauffmann chose painting because this website is about seeing art differently, not seeing music differently. Despite all of that, the painting is actually pretty groundbreaking as a feminist work of art. The fact that Kauffmann was able to choose her own life path was a completely revolutionary idea for women at the time. So Here’s to this I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T woman.

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Comments (3)

Michael Hatter
3 years ago

There is so much that could be said of this painting; it is full of symbolism. For instance I found Angelica's color palate tells a lot about the emotions she put into this piece. For herself she gave plain white color, while Art received primary colors and Music the alluring color red. With this in account and given the facial expressions present for all three characters, I would conclude that Art called to Angelica more persistently and Angelica listened. Maybe there is a small part of her though that regrets her decision and still clings to Music. This painting screams expressionism. It is all about Angelica and her inward feelings. The form and shape of the characters calls back to the classical age and reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci's style making this a pure neoclassical piece of art.

Molly S
3 years ago

I love how Angelica Kauffmann put herself into this self portrait painting. This debate between music and art is almost ironic because it is painted. The colors are tied across the painting nicely because the painter in blue has a red scarf and the singer in red has blue flowers in her hair. While her face seems to be an indication she is leaning towards music, you will notice how her body is turned and her hand is gesturing towards the art side. The medium, oil paint, leans into the inspiration from the classicism period of art where most paintings were done with oils. The features of the ladies also indicate a learned method from the classicism period.

Madison Gustafson
3 years ago

The work of Angelica Kauffman is very inspiring. This piece especially spoke to me because I feel like I am also torn between passions sometimes and this painting illustrates that struggle very well. Showing that this decision is as difficult as having to choose between two people. Her medium is very in keeping with neoclassical trends of making the paint smooth and appear soft. It is also neoclassical in how it invokes the same feelings of Greek and Roman art. Themes of harmony, clarity, and restraint are shown as she illustrates her struggle to choose between her passions within her self portrait. Demonstrating that this struggle is a huge part of who she is.