Large Odalisque vs. Olympia by Rachel Olney

Large Odalisque depicts a classic pose of a woman reclining nude. She has porcelain skin and an unrealistically long back. The woman shies away from the audience as not to expose herself, only flaunting the line of her figure. Her face is expressionless and doesn’t indicate personality, making her more like an object in the painting. Ingres used vibrant colors and lots of contrast which gives the painting a lot of depth. The painting is also incredibly detailed, which makes it look very real and 3D rather than flat. At the time this painting was highly criticized because of the woman’s proportions. Not only with her back, but the position of her leg and the length of her arm are not physically possible. Classical painting was all about accuracy and proportion, where as the woman’s pose in Odalisque is impossible which pushed that boundary. 

In contrast, Olympia is quite the opposite. While both paintings are women reclining nude, Olympia is very different in many ways. The woman in Olympia rather than shies away, leaves her body open and stares directly at the viewer. She possesses a confidence and a personality that Odalisque doesn’t. She flaunts her body to the viewer. While the proportions in Olympia are accurate, the colors here are very dull, and there is little detail or contrast. You can also see the paint brush strokes which only makes it look more 2-dimensional and flat rather than a picture, like in Odalisque where brush strokes are carefully concealed.