ARTH102 Final Project by Sara Wang https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei From the mystical compounds used in magical girl shows like Pretty Cure allowing fictional transformation to expressive works of body art showcased on RuPaul's Drag Race or Face Off!, or even mundane everyday wear — the putting on of makeup has become a symbol and tool of transformation and self expression. But more than just a means of creating a pretty face, makeup and “making up” has adopted many meanings throughout its representation in art and existence as a kind of art. In ancient Egypt, cosmetics like Kohl, eye makeup, and facial powders were used across social classes due to its connection to beauty and protective religious associations. Across high society in places like France or Japan, the putting on of makeup was a tool for asserting social class and status, especially of women. In Japan, teeth-blackening was not only commonly depicted as part of a female ideal beauty but also became associated with a coming-of-age ritual as a symbol of women's married status. In other instances, make up is associated with traits of frivolity and vanity. Through this collection, consider the role that the act of making up has changed and stayed the same, been challenged or continued, throughout time and place. en-us 2025-04-29 15:08:23 UTC 2025-05-02 11:13:22 UTC hello@padlet.com sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431017254 Carrie Mae Weems, The Kitchen Table Series: Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Makeup), 1953, America, Platinum Print, Image: 38.1 x 38.1 cm (15 x 15 in.); Paper: 50.8 x 50.8 cm (20 x 20 in.), Cleveland Museum of Art

]]> 2025-04-30 04:02:05 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431017254 Learning Goals sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431175164 As you explore, keep these ideas in mind: 

  1. How do issues such as gender and social class interact with the purpose or purposes of using makeup? 

  2. How does makeup play into rituals or traditions of beauty, self presentation, and identity?

  3. How does the appearance of these works reflect the perception of makeup and the perception of its users?

]]> 2025-04-30 06:10:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431175164 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431227069 Thomas Rowlandson, Six Stages of Mending a Face, Dedicated with respect to the Right Hob-ble. Lady Archer, 1792, Britain, Etching, Sheet: 11 3/16 in. × 16 in. (28.4 × 40.6 cm) Plate: 10 7/8 × 14 15/16 in. (27.7 × 38 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

]]> 2025-04-30 06:48:18 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431227069 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431244099 François Boucher, Pompadour at Her Toilette (Formerly Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour), 1750, France, Oil on Canvas, 81.2 × 64.9 cm (31 15/16 × 25 9/16 in.)
frame: 99.8 x 84.5 cm (39 5/16 x 33 1/4 in.), Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum

]]> 2025-04-30 07:01:46 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431244099 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431254871 Kohl tube and stick, ca. 1550–1458 B.C. E., Egypt. Wood, ebony, ivory, copper, H. 7.8 cm (3 1/16 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

]]> 2025-04-30 07:10:23 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431254871 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431256516 Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Geisha Blackening Teeth at 1:00 p.m (or 午後一時) from the series Twenty-four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi, 1880, Japan, Woodblock Print, Image: 13 3/16 × 9 1/16 in. (33.5 × 23.02 cm) Sheet: 14 1/2 × 9 3/4 in. (36.83 × 24.77 cm), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Herbert R. Cole Collection (M.84.31.68)

]]> 2025-04-30 07:11:22 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431256516 Sources sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431262590 Marr, Kathryn Rebecca. “MIRRORS OF MODERNITY, REPOSITORIES OF TRADITION: CONCEPTIONS OF JAPANESE FEMININE BEAUTY FROM THE SEVENTEENTH TO THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY.” University of Canterbury, 2015.

“Cultural History of Cosmetics | 日本化粧品工業会.” Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.jcia.org/en/info/history.

El-Kilany, Engy. “Facial Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt By.” Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.academia.edu/33510332/Facial_Cosmetics_in_Ancient_Egypt_By.

Hyde, Melissa. “The ‘Makeup’ of the Marquise: Boucher’s Portrait of Pompadour at Her Toilette.” The Art Bulletin 82, no. 3 (September 1, 2000): 453–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2000.10786945.

“The Kitchen Table Series: Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Makeup) | Cleveland Museum of Art.” Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.116.12.

]]> 2025-04-30 07:15:56 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3431262590 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3434120524 Boucher calls to attention the self-curated nature of makeup in depicting Madame de Pompadeur, a friend of King Louis XV, painting herself at her public toilette by drawing similarity between the painted nature of the work and the painting of makeup–calling into question who the “artist” of her beauty is. His soft coloring, especially of pinks, was criticized for its similarity to cosmetics and for being “too feminine.”

]]> 2025-05-02 10:42:28 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3434120524 sxw1053 https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3434128905 Weems created the Kitchen Table Series by showcasing a fictional drama featuring the relationships of motherhood, friendship, and romance with a central female character played by herself. It is a curated image of an authentic fictional life.


The mother and daughter here are shown mirroring each other in their movements, positioning, and even the items they are using, suggesting a continuation or carrying on of a shared use of makeup.

]]> 2025-05-02 10:55:23 UTC https://padlet.com/sxw1053/a21xmqgr5mkzikei/wish/3434128905