Gucci Launches @guccibeauty With A History Lesson On Art Babes

Paint me like one of your Gucci girls.

Text by Hayley Morgan

It’s been rumoured that Gucci is relaunching its beauty division and, while a relaunch is still in speculation, we can confirm a real deal launch of @guccibeauty — a place for the house to showcase its cosmetics and fragrances, as well as looks from fashion shows and collaborations with artists. But right now the account isn’t doing much of that, so our speculation grows thick.

Instead, the account is giving us an art history lesson that’s guided by Alessandra Michel’s vision of beauty. The feed features loads of beautiful artworks that span across history, ethnicity, culture and geography. Art writers have been gathered to recount the stories behind the works, and you can read some of our faves below:

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Title: Woman with Marigold, 1876 Author: Felipe Santiago Gutiérrez Museum: LACMA, Los Angeles ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This 1876 portrait from @LACMA, one of the #GucciPlaces, of a native Latin American woman wearing a huipil (native blouse) and holding a marigold over her pregnant belly is emblematic of the artist’s ability to capture the spirit of the sitter within a moment. The painting is most likely a specific portrait, made within a genre of symbolic depictions of mothers, though the subjects of those paintings were usually white, making this painting a striking and meaningful exception — we are invited to consider her interior world. The painter, Felipe Santiago Gutierrez, was born in Mexico himself and became one of the first internationally known Mexican artists. #GucciBeauty — @lrsphm Image courtesy of LACMA

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Title: Untitled (Eva), 2018 Author: Simone Kennedy Doig Location: Baert Gallery, Los Angeles. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Born in London in 1994, #SimoneKennedyDoig spends her time between her birthplace and Trinidad, where she moved to in 2002 and spent much of her childhood. Her works deal with intersectional identity, which for Kennedy Doig is informed by her experiences in Port of Spain and London. This is an oil painting that portrays two young women, friends in front of a mirror, staring at their own reflections. One figure, applies makeup, heightening her own sense of beauty while the other female casts a glance upon her. The expression captured in the onlookers gaze contributes to an atmosphere tinged with perhaps a small dose of envy. The image offers a psychological exploration of femininity from a female's perspective, standing in contrast to the male gaze and the usual depictions of women throughout art history. #GucciBeauty — @sirsargent Courtesy of the artist and Baert Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Joshua White.

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Title: Portrait of a Court Lady, Seated Half Length in an Embroidered Robe, Holding a Flower, mid 19th century Author: Chinese School Private Collection ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The Shanghai School of painting introduced a fresh alternative to the then-dominating Literati style. Western-influenced brightly colored portraiture was among the newly adopted styles, a direct reaction to the demands of Shanghai’s mercantile elite who craved something distinct from the traditional aesthetics of the Chinese scholarly and gentry classes. This 19th-century portrait captures the era’s distinct stylistic elements, which included a brightly-colored palette (as depicted in the blues, greens, and reds of the subject’s clothing and large, dangly earrings) and exaggerated physical form. #GucciBeauty — @britticisms Photo © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images

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Title: Woman from Constantinople, standing, c.1876 Author: Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) Private Collection ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme is the quintessential Orientalist painter, a European artist interested in a fantastical, stylized depiction of other cultures. After visiting Egypt in 1856 he became fascinated with the Middle East in particular and brought back local artifacts and costumes, which he used as props in his Paris studio. His work was extremely popular and much of it is now held in private collections, including this moody portrait. Gérôme wrapped his model in a translucent veil in a nod to her perceived exotic origins, drawing our attention to her languid gaze and ambiguous smile. Yet the image is theatrical, almost a fiction. #GucciBeauty — @tatianaberg Photo © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images

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Title: Portrait of a Woman, 1890 Author: Louis Anquetin Museum: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tournai⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The French painter Louis Anquetin was one of many Post-Impressionist artists influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. For Anquetin, this manifested in his use of bold, dark outlines filled with areas of flat, bright color; an aesthetic that can also be seen in the work of contemporaries like Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. His work is held in museum collections all over the world, including the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai, Belgium, where this intimate portrait from 1890 is kept. Executed more casually in pastel, here Anquetin’s line work is light and nimble. It’s easy to imagine the artist’s hand flitting quickly across the page, working to capture a fleeting moment and the coyness of his sitter’s gaze. #GucciBeauty — @tatianaberg Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tournai, Belgium / Bridgeman Images

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Title: Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray, 1778 Author: David Martin Museum: Scone Palace, Scotland ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One of the subjects of this dual portrait from 1778 is Dido Elizabeth Belle, who was born into slavery — her mother was African and her father a Scottish admiral. Only when her mother died did her father come to claim her. Dido became an aristocrat — free and educated — raised among gentry like the other young woman pictured, Lady Elizabeth Murray. It was only in the 1990s that Dido’s identity in this work by an unknown artist (perhaps by David Martin) was determined. The canvas now occupies a place of pride in the Scone Palace. #GucciBeauty — @kchayka Image of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray, daughters of Sir John Lindsay and David 2nd Earl of Mansfield by David Martin (1737 – 1797) from the Earl of Mansfield's collection at Scone Palace, Scotland. Copyright © 2018 remains at all times with the Earl of Mansfield, Scone Palace, Scotland.

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