Silhouette artistry. This is an art form with a long history that began to flourish in late 17th Century Europe and reached prominence in the 18th and early 19th Century. Originating in a time before photographing, silhouettes were an inexpensive and quick way to preserve one’s likeness.

The term silhouette derives from a derogatory reference to Louis XV’s Minister of Finance, Etienne de Silhouette, who had crippled the French people with his tax policies. Oblivious to the plight of the people of France, Etienne was much more interested in his hobby of cutting paper profiles. He was so despised by the people that in protest, the peasants wore only black to mimic his black paper cutouts. The saying went all over France, “We are dressing a la Silhouette. We are shadows, too poor to wear color. We are Silhouettes!”

Today, vintage silhouettes are highly collectible but there is also a small but growing group of artisans working to revive the art. Paper Portraits is the site of silhouette artist Kathryn Flocken who not only offers her reasonably priced services to create a portrait of your child from a profile photograph but has also created a range of beginner to advanced kits and supplies available for purchase.

You can find a simple tutorial over at Shiso Mama, a blogger who set out to create a silhouette family portrait for her husband’s birthday. Her approach involves tracing photographs of the subjects which yields really great results.

Another contemporary silhouette artist is Karl Johnson who has recently taken on several high profile projects with considerable press coverage. Karl not only embraces traditional silhouette portraiture he also experiments with a broader scope of subject matter. Below are examples of commissions he’s taken on and there’s more to be seen on his website Cut Arts.

And finally, for those of you in the Minneapolis area, the Walker Art Center is currently exhibiting the first career retrospective of artist Kara Walker. Kara has used this popular colonial art as medium through which to explore issues of race, racism and slavery in the US. It’s tough subject matter that not all parents would want their young children to see, but I’ve included some installation photos to give you an idea of their scale and the lyrical narrative it creates. Cut from black construction paper, Kara installs her work by waxing it to the wall. Learn more about the art of Kara Walker by visiting the site created by the Walker as a companion to their exhibit.

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