The Reluctant Bride
painting goes viral on TikTok
Recognize this image?
If you’re on TikTok then there’s a good chance that you’ve seen this painting show up on your “for you” page. It’s recently become a viral hit, with users posting captions to turn it into a meme channeling moments of personal vindication or frustration.
But did you know that the painting is actually from the 19th century? It’s titled “The Reluctant Bride” (1866), by the french painter Auguste Toulmouche.
The painting represents a woman who doesn’t want to be married to the suitor her parents have chosen for her. The artist depicts her with a reproachful, vindictive glare. It’s actually quite an unusual painting. Most of Toulmouche’s work focuses on romanticized images of wealthy women enjoying themselves.
The style is know as “academic realism” and Toulmouche was famous for depicting upper class women in luxurious surroundings. However his portraits were considered too commercial by some, including the French author Zola, who dismissed them as “delicious dolls.”
As the impressionists became more popular and commercially successful, academic realism went out of fashion and most of Toulmouche’s works faded into public awareness.
Until…TikTok rediscovered this gem of a painting and turned it into a meme.
What makes this such a beautiful painting is not just the unusual depiction of female anger or resentment, but the fact that it problematized the relationship of the viewer to its subject.
Here we have a woman who does not wish to please the viewer, who isn’t willing to be a passive object of the male gaze; and who meets the painter with a fierce, knowing look.
it reminds me of the 2019 film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”, which was one of my favorite movies of the past few years.
The sudden popularity of this image has been surprising, but also makes sense. To me, it proves once again how long and unexpected the afterlife of great works of art can be. Their power never really fades, it just changes over time.
Julian