A Black Woman
- Artist: French
- Date: 19th century
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "A Black Woman" painted in the French style. It's likely from the nineteenth century, although we don't know who exactly created it. Some art historians have attributed it to artists like Delacroix or Fromentin, but another possible artist is Marie-Guillemine Benoist, a student of David.
You may notice some similarities between this painting and her "Portrait of a Black Woman" in the Louvre in Paris. That portrait was actually exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1800. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, there were many artists who were part of the Romantic movement, like Géricault or Delacroix, who painted portraits of Black people.
This is significant because, at that time, there were relatively few portraits of Black individuals in European art. But what's interesting about this painting is its sympathetic portrayal of the sitter. It suggests a growing recognition of Black people as individuals rather than just types.
The artwork itself is an oil on canvas, which was a common medium for paintings during this period.
See it in person
A Black Woman hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
