The Celebrity Monarch: Empress Elizabeth & the Modern Female Portrait In-Person
Meet Associate Professor of Art History and art historian of modern European art, Olivia Gruber Florek, who has published “The Celebrity Monarch: Empress Elisabeth and the Modern Female Portrait” which reveals how portraits of Elisabeth transformed monarchs from divinely appointed sovereigns to public personalities whose daily lives were consumed by spectators. Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), wife of the Habsburg Emperor Francis Joseph I, was celebrated as the most beautiful woman in Europe. Glamorous painted portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter and widely collected photographs spread news of her beauty, and in the twenty-first century, high-profile films and series, such as “The Empress” on Netflix cemented this legacy. With visual resources ranging from the paintings of Gustav Klimt and Elisabeth’s private collection of celebrity photography, “The Celebrity Monarch” positions Elisabeth herself as the primary engineer of her public image and argues for the widespread influence of her construction on both modern art and celebrity. Excerpts from the book will analyze how portraits of Empress Elisabeth with unbound hair anticipate the way the public consumes celebrity portraiture in the twenty-first century.
Registration is required. Registration will close 2 hours prior to the scheduled start time of the event.
- Date:
- Thursday, May 11, 2023 Show more dates
- Time:
- 6:30pm - 7:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Struble Room
- Chester County Library System:
- Chester County Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Adults