Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Arica Hilton
Émilie du Châtelet - A stroll with Voltaire

2016

$8,800
£6,651.71
€7,644
CA$12,253.95
A$13,632.01
CHF 7,146.07
MX$166,579.87
NOK 90,996.31
SEK 85,660.44
DKK 57,059.53
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

OIL ON CANVAS 48" x 84" (122 x 213 cm) ARTIST STATEMENT ABOUT THE PAINTING: Émilie du Châtelet was a brilliant mathematician and physicist of the 18th century, who also happened to be a woman and the lover one of the most brilliant writers of the Enlightenment, Voltaire. This painting came into creation as the backdrop for a play, "URANIA, The Life of Émilie Du Châtelet" based on a biography written by Judith P. Zinsser: Émilie Du Châtelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment. As an artist and poet, the play resonated profoundly with me because my works delve into the interconnectedness of human beings with the universe. Attempting to address the various dimensions of time & space, much like a physicist delving into theories about the inception of life, she reminded me of Leonardo Da Vinci, not the artist, but the scientist. Émilie was driven to accomplish and discover things that heretofore had not been known by human beings. She translated Newton's "Principia Mathematica" into French and wrote an essay on FIRE in the 18th century. Newton described how elliptical orbits work and how bodies in motion exert force upon on another. Émilie studied the nature of light and heat, especially fire which happens to be the subject matter of many of my works. When I learned about her, I was taken by her resolve to not allow herself to be lost to the culture and customs of her time. She was a pioneer, not only in the field of mathematics and physics, but a role model for women…during the 18th century and for today. In one of the last scenes in the play, she asks her friend and tutor to make sure her book is published in the event she dies in childbirth, which she did at age 43. A passionate woman, she wanted to live on through her books, her theories and her love of life. Two years and many revisions later, the painting is finally complete. This time, I included many of Emilie's mathematical formulas on the landscape. I used Antoine Watteau's 1717 painting in the Louvre "L'Embarquement pour Cythère" as a guide to the 18th century, but omitted all but two of the beautiful people gracing the island of Cythera, a romantic homage to the Greek island which is the birthplace of the goddess Venus. Watteau's painting is an homage to love, physical and carnal love, as he incorporates cupids and the pairs of lovers walking along the shore. My painting is also about love, but it is about Emilie's love for her mathematical formula's and her research on trying to figure out how the world really works. Voltaire loved not only her beauty, but her genius. He told everyone that he had at last found his equal. So I placed them strolling along the canvas on the shores of the Island of Cythera, along with her beloved formulas enveloping the landscape, as it did in her life. A woman, whose research and dedication to science was the precursor to Einstein's Theory of Relativity. A woman who dared to be herself during a time when women were not even allowed to be educated. Today, Émilie du Châtelet at last has the respect of her peers in scientific laboratories throughout the world. ~Arica Hilton
  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    2016
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 48 in (121.92 cm)Width: 84 in (213.36 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Chicago, IL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38831210503

More From This Seller

View All
American Icon
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
Archival Pigment Print on canvas Edition size: 10 plus 2 artist proofs Each canvas is hand painted by the artist Available in the following sizes: 20" x 40" • 30" x 60" • 36" x 72" • 47" x 96" “American Icon” examines the world’s perception of America. It combines quintessential American imagery to create a depiction of this nation as seen through the eyes of the world. From the Founding Fathers to Facebook, Cowboys and the Wild West; The Wright Brothers to PanAm; Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Elvis; Babe Ruth to Hank Aaron...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

MULTIVERSE
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
Acrylic on Acrylic with Recycled Plastic 48 x 96 inches 121.9 x 243.8 cm Based on the theories of infinite and parallel universes, MULTIVERSE is a visual rendering in the space/tim...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic

Multiverse IV
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
Acrylic on acrylic 49.25 × 38 in (125.1 × 96.5 cm) "Since the dawn of man, human beings have sought the very nature of existence. As the seekers of truth compounded their knowledg...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Serenity VII
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
Acrylic on Acrylic with Recycled Plastic in Lightbox 24 × 18 inches 61 × 45.7 cm Based on the theories of infinite and parallel universes, MULTIVERSE is a visual rendering in the s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic

"LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT WINDS" - ABSTRACT
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm) The inspiration for this painting is from the poem: "Let Me Tell You About Winds" Let me tell you about winds. They can go...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

American Icon
By Arica Hilton
Located in Chicago, IL
“American Icon” examines the world’s perception of America. It combines quintessential American imagery to create a depiction of this nation as seen through the eyes of the world. From the Founding Fathers to Facebook; Cowboys and the Wild West; The Wright Brothers to PanAm; Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Elvis; Babe Ruth to Hank Aaron...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

You May Also Like

French Contemporary Art by Francis Moreau - Nous Sortirons
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Francis Moreau is a French artist (1940-2021) who lived and worked in Paris, France. Like many others, he wasn't born with a brush from childhood but through hard wor...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Joli Moi de Mai
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His works e...
Category

2010s Academic Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

French Contemporary Art by Christiane Hess - L'Envol De L'Esprit
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic on canvas Christiane Hess alias Chrystal is a French abstract artist born in 1951 who lives and works in Lalinde, near Bergerac in France. Her conversion to abstract art giv...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Imbriglio and revelation Louis-Paul Ordonneau Contemporary painting landscape
Located in Paris, FR
Oil paint on canvas Hand-signed by the artist on the back Louis-Paul Ordonneau is a French painter born in 1975. He lives and works in Paris. In 1999, he set up his studio in tempo...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Earth-walk, Abstract Art Original Painting, Ready to Hang
By Voskan Galstian
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Voskan Galstian Work: Original Oil Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Oil on Canvas Year: 2023 Style: Abstract Art, Subject: Earthwalk, Size: 32" x 24" x...
Category

2010s Impressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Something I - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Landscape, Magical Realism
By Tomasz Bielak
Located in Salzburg, AT
Tomasz Bielak born in Lublin in 1967. He graduated of The Academy of Fine Arts, Painting and Graphics Design Department in Gdańsk, in 1994. He realized installation art, graphics ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil