Ronald Solano
Art and Women
Gender Roles, Subject and Power
February 27, 2020
During the middle ages in Europe, women weren’t given as many opportunities as they have now, back then women were expected to be the caretakers and nurturers. Women were expected to stay at home and cater to her children and husband, they were treated like objects, valued by their beauty and their ability to care. Women were treated like property, groomed and raised by their parents until they were of a fit age to marry. Women had no voice at all. As time progressed further into the Renaissance, women still did not have much of their rights changed at all. Some of the women that were able to get into art or have opportunities with art or work with male artists were usually able to do so because of the position of their fathers, if their fathers had connections like being close to painters then their daughters could study under the fathers or alongside these male painters.
We can see many artists who have depicted the struggles of women and how they are seen, specifically women artists. Male artists would showcase women as if they were passive or like they only care about their beauty. Like in Tintoretto’s “Susanna and the Elders”, we can see how women are depicted as these passive beings who would be so open to bathing their selves in the middle of a garden, sitting there all innocently as if she would do so to invite men over to claim her. It is very apparent how the attitudes of men and women have changed and differed back then, some exemplary depictions of women and their actual power can be seen in the works of artists like Elisabetta Sirani, or Angelica Kauffman. Being treated as less and only as a servant is what inspired these artists to tackle on the subject of women’s strife and how unjust their treatment is.
Artists began to focus on depicting women as the actual main subject, something that was unheard of and was seen as rebellious back then. Women were expected to stay in their lane and not be as important or grand as a man, only when they were being submissive was when men decided to focus on women in paintings. And it wouldn’t really be a focus on the woman for who she is, they would see women as a trophy ready to be claimed by man as they leave their selves open and ready for a man to come into their life. For example, in Alice Walker’s “Wounded Feelings”, we can see how the woman in the painting is being comforted by another woman. In the background we can see how this man is in the back and it looks like he is leaning in and talking to another woman. The connection of the woman’s small robe and the man’s suit seem to hint at some idea of marriage, it seems like they’re at their marriage party. There is a woman sitting down and she is smiling as this man is clearly making advances towards her, his fiancé is obviously hurt by this. Walker depicts how women are expected to put up with this behavior that was not seen as deviant for men, for them to be talking to other women as they already have one. Many women dealt with the issues of women by representing them in their art.
One of the paintings that I personally really liked was Emily Mary Osborn’s “Nameless and Friendless”, I liked this painting mainly because I feel so empathetic for this woman. She’s over here trying to sell her art and is getting nasty looks from people in the shop. Everyone looks displeased with her or as if she shouldn’t even be considering the idea of selling art from a woman, she has this somber look on her face with her wet umbrella, showing how bad the travel was for her but she is trying to make money as her husband is clearly out of the picture. She is not escorted by a man but by someone much younger, a boy who could be her child. From most of the work of women’s strife that I’ve seen throughout the 15th century all the way up until Impressionism, my favorites are the ones that are more somber because I really empathize with these women being put in situations like this. It makes me grateful for the place we are today, even though we still have more work to do.
Work Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. fifth ed., Thames & Hudson World of Art, 2012
Girls, Guerrilla. The Guerrilla Girls Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art. Penguin Book, 1998
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| Alice Walker, Wounded Feelings, 1861 |
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| Tintoretto, Susanna and the Elders, 1555 |
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