![]() ![]() "Hollow cut" where the negative image was traced and then cut away from light colored paper which was then laid atop a dark background and.painted on ivory, plaster, paper, card, or in reverse on glass.In the 18th and early 19th century, "profiles" or "shades" as they were called were made by one of three methods: The term silhouette, although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the art of portrait-making until the 19th century. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person's appearance. Because of de Silhouette's austere economies, his name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits. The word silhouette is derived from the name of Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France's credit crisis during the Seven Years' War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy. Because a silhouette emphasises the outline, the word has also been used in fields such as fashion, fitness, and concept art to describe the shape of a person's body or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period. Anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as "in silhouette". Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick.įrom its original graphic meaning, the term silhouette has been extended to describe the sight or representation of a person, object or scene that is backlit and appears dark against a lighter background. They represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature, and skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, by far the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic medium, but were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed.Ĭutting portraits, generally in profile, from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term silhouette was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century, and the tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouette is usually presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. A traditional silhouette portrait of the late 18th century Goethe facing a grave monument, cut paper, 1780 Silhouette of JohannesburgĪ silhouette ( English: / ˌ s ɪ l u ˈ ɛ t/, French: ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. For other uses, see Silhouette (disambiguation). ![]()
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