Art Review

Robert Polidori, Salles d’Afrique, Portrait of Louis XVI by Callet #2, Chateau de Versailles (2007). Color Photograph.

This photograph shows a painted portrait of Louis XVI propped up against a wheeled trolley. This painting is placed in a wooden frame, and interestingly enough, the painting is laid horizontally in a clockwise manner on the trolley. In the background, there is an intersection between two walls – the paint on each wall seems to be decaying. There is another painting of what seems like either desert oasis/camp or Native American scenery, but this painting is displayed hung up on the right wall. The portrait of Louis XVI is positioned in front of this painting, however, and hides a large part of it from view within the photograph. The floor of the room seems to have a wooden finish, with rectangular panels arranged in an angular pattern. There is also what seems like rolled up paper lying horizontally on the ground towards the bottom left hand side of the photograph. It has to be said that there are almost no organic lines within this photograph. The photographer uses the overlap between the two paintings to create an illusion of depth. The intersection between the two walls in the background also contributes to this effect. The light in this photograph seems to be coming from the top left hand corner – this can be seen through the position of the shadows cast by the portrait. This seems to be a good position, as the photographed area as a whole seems decently lit. The use of color around the photograph is also interesting, as the room seems to consist of mostly cool colors. However, there is an object (probably a pillow) within the portrait, which seems to be the most warmly colored spot in the entire photograph, and jumps out towards the eye. The decay on the walls, as well as the rolled up paper on the ground (which could be another painting) suggests to me that the subject here is a room, which is being emptied, probably for renovation. Also, the horizontal placement of the portrait on the wheeled trolley suggests that it is about to be moved from its original position (its placement seems to be the most efficient way of placing it on the trolley). The positioning of the trolley and portrait at the forefront of the photograph suggests to me a potential for movement/action, which further supports my view that the painting is about to be moved out of the subject area, and that area is about to be cleared.