Coming Out Of A Fashionable Church

Coming Out Of A Fashionable Church

Illustration

The Item chosen for this section is the front-page illustration titled, Coming Out Of A Fashionable Church. The Audience of this item is presumably New Yorkers who attend church and want to see how their regalia compares to their peers. The audience also could be those who do not attend church, or attend less fashionable churches, and want to see how the better half lives, much like the Hollywood magazines of today. Not much is specified about the illustration other then the title, but one can assume that it was drawn by the illustrator of the entire magazine, unfortunately, nothing can be found on this person, or persons other that they were presumably a regular employee of the magazine. This item is intriguing as there are many depictions in this image making up the scene, and as the illustrator uses various shading tenancies to make the image of chaos not look overwhelming. In the foreground a older respectable gentleman drag his wife away from a conversation, as she desperately attempts to complete it. The eye is drawn to this depiction by the heavy shading on the man, and intricate lines on the woman. The Gentleman is drawn sharply, and his attitude seams to match, as he drags his partner on he keeps a stiff upper lip with a scowl, and looks to be taking crisp steps with his cane. This illustration relates to what we have read in Washington Square pertaining to dress and socialization. Much like Catherine, the ladies wear rich dress, and again as in Washington Square we find an old maid to the far right, escorting who is presumably a recent widow, due to the vial, off scene. The visual chaos to the left is expressed through the use of variant shading, darker for the foreground transitioning to light in the background. The illustrator gradually darkens figures where they overlap, making to illustration look less chaotic.

Frank Leslie

Harpers Weekly, issue 55 [CORRECT CITATION NEEDED]

Harpers Weekly

16 January 1858

Ben Hansberger

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English

News

Fashionable Church

magazine