With irony, humor, and a keen aesthetic sense, Madam Pompadour Modern reinterprets the archetype of the powerful and decorative woman of the 18th century in a contemporary key. The scene depicts a female figure reclining on a burgundy leather sofa, surrounded by an exuberant floral background, holding a book and a fuchsia feather duster, accessories laden with symbolism.
The model’s gaze—veiled by mirrored sunglasses—prevents us from reading her full expression, but not her attitude: a mixture of disdain, pleasure, and self-awareness. The book, with Nietzsche’s face on the cover, forces us to wonder whether we are witnessing a performative act of intellectual reading or a satire of cultural authority poses. Everything in the image seems to play with this ambiguity.
The choice of clothing, the fuchsia shoes, the turquoise necklace, and the revealing cut of the black ensemble mark a contrast between the empowered body and the aesthetics of the artificial. The feather duster, a banal domestic object, is transformed into a scepter: an instrument of power disguised as frivolity.
This work is part of a visual tradition that ranges from Ingres to Cindy Sherman, from courtly representation to the ironic self-construction of the female subject. At the intersection of art, fashion, and cultural criticism, Madam Pompadour Modern is a resounding statement about the body, the gaze, ornamentation, and intelligence.
Ultimately, the work questions our notions of femininity, power, and representation. What does it mean today to be a muse, a reader, an object, a subject? In this staging, everything is calculated, everything is excess… and everything is an open question.