The artwork titled “The Kaunitz Sisters” is a neoclassical portrait executed by the renowned French artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in the year 1818. This pencil on paper portrayal, which aligns with the Neoclassicism art movement, presently resides within a private collection. The genre of the artwork is a portrait, capturing the delicate features and poised elegance that is characteristic of Ingres’ style and the period during which it was completed.
In the artwork, three young girls, presumably the Kaunitz sisters, are depicted with remarkable finesse and attention to detail. The sisters are positioned close to one another, suggesting warmth and familial intimacy among them. The central figure is seated and is flanked by the other two, who stand beside her, all sharing similar classical features and hairstyles that reflect the neoclassical aesthetic. They are all dressed in elegant gowns indicative of their high social standing, ornamented with lace and ribbons, elements that add to the delicate nature of the drawing.
Their expressions are serene and their gazes poised, with the youngest in the center looking directly towards the viewer, thus acting as the focal point of the composition. The refinement in their dresses and the controlled lines of their facial features and hair demonstrate Ingres’ mastery of his medium and his ability to capture the essence of his subjects with subtlety and grace. The portrait, with its clear lines and lacks of color, presents a study in form and structure, revealing Ingres’ predilection for precision and clarity, hallmarks of the neoclassical mindset, which sought to revive the ‘noble simplicity and serene grandeur’ of antiquity.
