85 - Ottinger, Jennie - Portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette 1778 Vigée Le Brun - 2022
Oil on panel
20 x 16 x 1
Courtesy of the Artist and Rebecca Camacho Presents
Ottinger is collecting stories of women who were maligned by history, including princesses who have been pawns and/or scapegoats. In Marie Antoinette’s case, she became a symbol for inequality in France and the downfall of the French monarchy. Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna never actually said “Let them eat cake”, never commissioned a $15 Million (in our current valuation) necklace then refused to pay, and never abused her children, as she was accused of doing. She did what she was bred to do: have babies and look fabulous. This piece is a copy of a portrait by the painter Vigée LeBrun. Marie Antoinette used royal portraits to attempt to redeem her image as a mother or a simple girl with simple tastes.
Jennie Ottinger has a BA in art history, a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts, and an MFA in painting from Mills College. Ottinger takes everyday scenes and situations and depicts them with her wonderfully peculiar style. Her figures are at once grotesquely distorted and undeniably charming. With these figures, Ottinger has created her own brand of nostalgia, one that recognizes the tragically comic nature of human existence. She has exhibited in the Bay Area, New York, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and London. She was awarded an Investing in Artists grant from Center for Cultural Innovation, a fellowship at the Kala Art Institute, and was a 2010 finalist for the SECA award. Reviews of her work have appeared in Art in America, ArtSlant, Its Nice That, Hyperallergic, Artsy, and Huffington Post. Ottinger's work was featured in New American Paintings and her recent solo show at Rebecca Camacho Presents gallery in San Francisco examined the public face of Princess Diana. She served on Southern Exposure’s curatorial committee and was an Affiliate Artist at Headlands Center for the Arts.
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