During the height of the feminist movement in 1971, feminist art historian Linda Nochlin published an essay titled “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” in the magazine ArtNews. In this brief polemical essay, Nochlin elaborates upon the reasons why there have been no great female equivalents for Michelangelo or Rembrandt and explores the possibilities behind the lack of great female artists throughout the course of history of art. Unlike most feminist intellectuals in her times, she does not conduct her arguments through the typical feminist views, emotional and subjective centered, but rather through “historical analysis of the basic intellectual issues (Nochlin 145).”
More strikingly, she dismisses the recent feminist attempts which fundamentally lead to inappropriate answers of the question, why have there been no great women artists? For example, the first reaction to the question is to rediscover forgotten female artists in history of art such as Artemisia Gentileschi. However, Nochlin asserts that such attempt is an inadequate response to the question, and “tacitly reinforce its negative implications (148).” In fact, it supports the notion that the great female artist is fundamentally rare and proves the natural assumption that all greatness in artistic accomplishments has been only reserved for male artist. Another reaction to the question is that women’s work has different formal and expressive qualities which cannot be judged by male situation and experience in art world. So, the work itself has a different kind of greatness, so called feminine style, which essentially contains a female sensibility and experience and a feminine aesthetic. However, again, Nochlin finds it is an inadequate response because there is...
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...er genre paintings, Boy Bitten by a Crab, 1550s, brought attention to not only prominent Renaissance biographer Vasari but also Roman gentleman Cavalieri, who wrote his impression on the painting to important male patron Cosimo de’ Medici in 1562. Moreover, a series of self-portraits in 1550s, such as Self-Portrait at the Easel, c. 1550, led Sofonisba to work in the Spanish court of King Philip the second as the first female court painter in 1559. Regardless of her artistic talent and international reputation, Sofonisba had never produced the complex multi-nude figure compositions essentially required for large-scale History Painting since she did not have any opportunity to study nude model. In fact, as a virtuous woman artist, she inscribes on her 1552 Self-Portrait that, “Sofonisba Anguissola ‘virgin’ of Cremona depicted by her own hand from a mirror (Fletcher).”
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654?) was one of the most important women artists before the modern period and certainly one of the most famous female painters from the seventeenth century. Gentileschi’s paintings regularly featured women as the protagonists acting in a manner equal to men. In fact, forty nine of her paintings fall into this category. She was raped at the age of 18 and the subsequent events lent her a certain amount of notoriety. These factors have led many to interpret her artwork as an expression of her role as a female victim looking for revenge through her art. Instead, a closer examination of Gentileschi’s life and her artwork exposes the artist as an individual with personal strength and incredible talent who painted subjects similar to or the same as those of her male counterparts, instead of staying within the guiding principles of what was acceptable “feminine” art.
Women were not allowed to draw naked people, so instead she painted women in informal environments as seen in “The Chess Game”. Her paintings helped break gender and class barriers and led the way for women to be accepted in society as artists. Historian Whitney Chadwick wrote that she was “placed her within a critical category of her own”. (New World Encyclopaedia, 2012) During the middle ages, the only artists were nuns, and Sofonisba’s newfound success influenced the art of today. Many famous male renaissance artists copied her artwork style, which can be seen in the works of Peter Paul Rubens. Giorgio Vasari, the first art historian credited her work: “…she has not only succeeded in drawing, colouring, and copying from nature, and in making excellent copies of works by other hands, but has also executed by herself alone some very choice and beautiful works of painting.” (Oxford,
By most accounts, the year 1500 was in the midst of the height of the Italian Renaissance. In that year, Flemmish artist Jean Hey, known as the “Master of Moulins,” painted “The Annunciation” to adorn a section of an alter piece for his royal French patrons. The painting tells the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she will give birth to the son of God. As the story goes, Mary, an unwed woman, was initially terrified about the prospects of pregnancy, but eventually accepts her fate as God’s servant. “The Annunciation” is an oil painting on a modest canvas, three feet tall and half as wide. The setting of the painting is a study, Mary sitting at a desk in the bottom right hand corner reading, and the angel Gabriel behind her holding a golden scepter, perhaps floating and slightly off the canvas’s center to the left. Both figures are making distinct hand gestures, and a single white dove, in a glowing sphere of gold, floats directly above Mary’s head. The rest of the study is artistic but uncluttered: a tiled floor, a bed with red sheets, and Italian-style architecture. “The Annunciation” was painted at a momentous time, at what is now considered the end of the Early Renaissance (the majority of the 15th Century) and the beginning of the High Renaissance (roughly, 1495 – 1520). Because of its appropriate placement in the Renaissance’s timeline and its distinctly High Renaissance characteristics, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” represents the culmination of the transition from the trial-and-error process of the Early Renaissance, to the technical perfection that embodied the High Renaissance. Specifically, “Annunciation” demonstrates technical advancements in the portrayal of the huma...
Prior to the 20th century, female artists were the minority members of the art world (Montfort). They lacked formal training and therefore were not taken seriously. If they did paint, it was generally assumed they had a relative who was a relatively well known male painter. Women usually worked with still lifes and miniatures which were the “lowest” in the hierarchy of genres, bible scenes, history, and mythological paintings being at the top (Montfort). To be able to paint the more respected genres, one had to have experience studying anatomy and drawing the male nude, both activities considered t...
Sofonisba Anguissola was one of the most prominent female painters of the Renaissance. Not only was she one of only four women mentioned by Giorgio Vasari in his famous Lives of the Artists, she also paved the way for later female artists. One may look at Sofonisba’s upbringing and assume that her talents were a result of her wealth and family background. However, if investigated more carefully through both analytical secondary sources and primary sources, it becomes clear that Sofonisba’s painting abilities formed because of her talent, not her wealth. Sofonisba integrated herself into the artistic community and used her second-class status as a female painter to accelerate her career: because she was not able to study as an apprentice in a workshop, her models were usually family members, she pioneered the style of genre painting. Historian Joan Kelly argues in her essay, “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” that women did not experience a Renaissance during the actual Renaissance. Sofonisba’s training and connections were extremely helpful to launch her career, refuting Kelly’s argument that women only were taught “charm” during the Renaissance. In addition, Sofonisba married her second husband for love, not for money, debunking Kelly’s argument that marriages during the Renaissance were not based on love. Though Sofonisba’s life as a woman is a unique case in terms of wealth and profession, her success and fame, talent, and marriage (van dyck?) disprove Kelly’s argument that women did not have a Renaissance during the Renaissance.
Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society 3rd ed. (NY: Thames & Hudson world of art, 2002), 153-160.
Art could be displayed in many different forms; through photography, zines, poetry, or even a scrapbook. There are many inspirational women artists throughout history, including famous women artists such Artemisia Gentileschi and Georgia O’Keeffe. When searching for famous female artists that stood out to me, I found Frida Kahlo, and Barbara Kruger. Two very contrasting type of artists, though both extremely artistic. Both of these artists are known to be feminists, and displayed their issues through painting and photography. Frida Kahlo and Barbara Kruger’s social and historical significance will be discussed.
I believe viewers are more likely to communicate upon the works of the Guerrilla Girls with one another in society when they take on a more comedic approach. This investigation has examined the Guerrilla Girls through direct connection to the inequalities of power over women in the art world. Several themes were highlighted within society that reinstated these cultural norms of gender and sex within the institutions of art. With a variety of forms used by the Guerrilla Girls to redefine women's identity in history, they were able to break down such barriers that stood in the way which denied the prosperity of female artists.
Feminism and political issues have always been centered on in the art world and artists like to take these ideas and stretch them beyond their true meanings. Female artists such as Hannah Höch, who thrived during the Dada movement in the 1920s in Germany and Barbara Kruger who was most successful during the 1980s to 1990s in the United States, both take these issues and present them in a way that forces the public to think about what they truly mean. Many of Kruger’s works close in on issues such as the female identity and in relation to politics she focuses on consumerism and power. Höch, like Kruger, also focuses on female identity but from the 1920s when feminism was a fairly new concept and like Kruger focuses on politics but focuses more on the issues of her time such as World War I. With the technique of photomontage, these two artists take outside images and put them together in a way that displays their true views on feminism and politics even though both are from different times and parts of the world.
I choose to look at the painting “The Toilet of Venus” or more commonly referred to as “The Rokeby Venus” by Diego Velalazquez. The “Rokeby” part came into effect, because the painting was originally displayed in the Morritt Collection at Rokeby Hall in Yorkshire, before being moved to its current home in the National Gallery. Diego Velazquez was born in Seville in 1599, and went on to become one of the most brilliant and influential painters ever to come from Spain. He lived in Madrid for most of his adult life, and was employed as a court painter. Throughout his career, he tackled a wide variety of subjects, such as landscapes, scenes from real life, and mythological/religious figures. He was a master realist who excelled at capturing essential features upon the canvas. He painted “The Rokeby Venus” between 1647 and 1651, and was his only nude portrait, as well as the first one in Spain, at that time. Initially the painting met with some disapproval, especially from the Church, since it was a nude, but eventually the work received great praise, and became known, as being one of the most beautiful and significant portrayals of Venus in the history of Western Art.
Born in the nineteenth century England, Christina Georgina Rossetti exists, even today, as one of the most influential women poets in the world literature. Rossetti was the youngest child in the family and had an exceptionally happy childhood with supportive parents and equally talented siblings. As an adult, however, she grew quite restrained in character. Her personality was influenced by religion to a very large extent and the importance of her fai...
During this period, the world was rocked by a socialist movement characterized by a counterattack against nonfigurative art and a reversion to figurative art, a change that enabled artists to deliver social messages clearly. Kahlo’s paintings started receiving global attention from the 1970s. Feminism in art at the time suggested that women’s physical characteristics were women’s own space, distinguished from men’s. Her paintings honestly and comprehensively expressed her personal experiences and emotions, to which only women could relate. Self-portrait was a recurring theme in her paintings, which depicted women as active observers of their inner being rather than as passive objects of men’s attraction. From this perspective, Kahlo’s pieces are extremely pioneering (Deffebach, 2015). The feminist movement provided opportunities for the discovery of more female artists in the world of art; this movement helped her paintings see the light of day. During the period when male chauvinism prevailed, Kahlo stood against conservative society with her strong character and personality; she strived to create a new era and tread the path of a pioneer. In this respect, Kahlo was an artist who had great influence on improving women’s social
Located in a hallway nestled between the Art of Europe and Art of Ancient Worlds wings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is the Italian Renaissance Gallery (Gallery 206). Here, Donatello’s Madonna of the Clouds and Luca della Robbia’s Virgin and child with lilies face one another, vying for museum-goers’ attention from alternate sides of the narrow gallery. Both pieces indulge ingenious techniques, original at the time of conception, to create a completely new visual experience of a very traditional biblical scene, the Virgin Mary with her child, Jesus Christ. This paper will employ close visual analysis of two 15th-century Renaissance reliefs from Florence depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus Chris in order to show how these artists used innovative
In the early 1970s, artists, critics, and historians who were part of the feminist movement believed that, like the women’s movement itself, art made by feminist women represented a radical new beginning. (BOOK CITATION) Judy Gerowitz was a firm believer in pushing boundaries and stepping away from the male dominated art scene. Gerowitz was first recognized for her extreme passion and dedication towards
There is a long history of gender roles in society. The expectations of gender roles continually shift; however, there is not a time when women and men share the same equalities simultaneously. The idea of how men and women should act is instilled in us at a young age. I think it starts really young with girls and boys being told what they can be and when they see what they are expected to be, they abandon parts of them which society deems as undesirable. We don’t acknowledge how much pressure we put on men and women to conform to the ideas of gender roles but it is apparent in our media and in the history of our art. One of the most influential things about figurative art is that it has the ability to capture society’s concepts of how men and women are expected to be during that time period. One thing for certain about gender equality is that it has historically and predominantly been a women’s movement. This sculpture, entitled Portrait Bust of a Woman with a Scroll, stood out to me in particular. It is is made of pentelic marble and dates back to the early 5th century. The sculpture shows a woman with a restless face, clothed in a mantle and head piece while holding a scroll. This sculpture reflects the women’s intelligence and capabilities being overshadowed by her gender and