Image from:
http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Venus-of-Urbino.html
I wanted to explore the ancient taboos of women as artists, what types of paintings were created by men depicting women in negative lights to help my understanding of the female nudes.
As well as women being the focus point for the male’s paintings, they “faced social problems” (Chicago and Lucie-smith, 1999, 115). They “could either elect to be a gentlewoman who painted, […] or she could resign herself to being thought of as a not quite respectable outsider” (Chicago and Lucie-Smith, 1999, 115). This shows just how disrespected women were for their artwork and could be one of the reasons for men’s art still dominating galleries today. Women weren’t considered artists as it was “surprising that a woman should paint well, but [also] that she should be able to paint at all” (Chicago and Lucie-Smith, 1999, 113). Although women were not allowed to be considered artists, they were continuously the focus for the male artist’s paintings.
As these types of paintings are exhibited within the Usher Gallery I believe it is something that can be looked into for our performance.
Works Cited:
Chicago, J., and Lucie-Smith, E. (1999) Women and Art Contested Territory. London: Wiedenfield & Nicolson.
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