Group 8: Female body in Early 20th Century Art

Group 8 - Tehreem Khalid, Nicole Schettini, Lis Sans, & Neil Waldron

Overall, our group focused on movements and pieces that showed a transition from the archetypal view of the female to a variety of points of view in each movement during the early 20th century. Some of these movements included Expression, Surrealism, and Abstract Modernism

Neil
My main focus was on two artists that in their own ways tackled female sexuality. Both Suzanne Avadon and Paula Modersohn-Becker tackled the concept of the male gaze in their own ways. Both had a focus on the female nude. Avadon took the poses and actions that were typical in Western Art and took a more realistic approach. She put her models in awkward positions and in settings more ideal to society instead in a grand background that emphasizes the female. Modersohn-Becker took a much more abstract approach and simplified her models in both foreground and background. She also placed her models in positions not typical of the past works. In both cases, the definition of the male gaze is in question. Are their pieces supposed to be for the pleasure of man, or is there more of a woman's right movement concept taking the forefront?

Paula Modersohn-Becker's "Self Portrait with Amber Necklace" 1906

Suzanne Valadon's "The Blue Room" 1923

Nicole
These two artists, Leonara Carrington, and Frida Kahlo are both Surrealist and considered Mexican influential artists.  The surrealist movement is a art and literary movement that stresses the significance of letting one;s imagination rule, minimizing the use of logics.  It is also a cultural movement that started in the early 1920's.  The surrealist movement becomes the focus for a dialogue which is viewed as the revolutionary tool that would overthrow the control exerted by the conscious mind.  (Chadwick, pg. 314) It is also considered a revolutionary movement, which also has affect on the arts, philosophy, social theory, film, and literature.

Lenora Carrington's "Self-Portrait"

Frida Kahol's "The Broken Column"

Margaret
The artists that I chose to speak about on a personal level are iconic in their century and location have a resonating impact in my eyes. Kathe Kollwitz emphasized her form of German Expressionism by focusing on the social conditions during the Prussian Empire. She divorced herself from the modernist movement a bit because although artistic freedom occurred she wanted the impact to be emotional and political to show the truth about Women of the early 20th century. Romain Brooks set the iconic fashion and archetype--persay--for the early 20th Century lesbian. The way she expressed her own self portrait represents that through painting it can set not just a new trend but a voice for another community that breaks the societal norms of gender roles.

Kollwitz's "Portrait with Hand on Brow"

Romanie Brooks' "Self Portrait"

Tehreem
I discuss two artists, Gwen John and Georgia O'Keeffe. Gwen was basically a non-joiner so she couldn't be counted as a part of the Modernist movement were it not for a few elements from the movement artists in her work. She loved repetition and painted many versions of some paintings. She was overshadowed by her brother, Augustus John who was a popular painter of his time. Gwen's paintings were usually very closely toned. Georgia was much more outspoken and came to be much more famous as an artist in the U.S. Her art was usually much more intense and had technical attributes such as her use of different spaces. She faced much criticism and was often misunderstood but she still persisted and continued painting till old age.

Gwen John's "Wide Awake Tortoise Shell Cat"

Georgia O'Keefe's "The American Marathon Building"

Early 20th Century Modernism and Abstraction

In this presentation, we discuss the birth of the Modernist and Abstract art movement in the early 20^th century.

Modernism describes the cultural movement of the early 20^th century which is characterized by “a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression.” This break with the past occurred in literature, politics, religion, and many other aspects of society. This break from the past heavily influenced art and caused a shift in focus from the superficial and outward appearance of something (the “surface”) to an object’s content and values (the “depth”)- thus giving rise to abstraction.

Abstract art, in terms of painting and sculpture, does not realistically depict people, places, or things. These people, places and things are depicted in exaggerated and distorted forms. This allows the artist and the observer to focus on and interpret things like shapes and their size, scale, and colors as well as the brushstrokes the artist used and how the piece was created.

We refer to Sonia Delaunay, Alexandra Exter, and Tarsila do Amaral who we learn about in chapter nine of Charwick’s Women, Art, and Society. Frank Auerbach is mentioned to provide a male example of abstraction in the 1900's. A more contemporary reference is made to Dora Woordum to show the growth of Modernism and Abstraction and its presence in today’s society.

Sonia Delaunay- Couverture, 1911

Alexandra Exter- Cubist Nude, 1912

Sonia Delaunay- Costume for Cleopatre 1918

Tarsila do Amaral- Abaporu, 1928

Frank Auerbach-
Looking towards
Mornington Crescent Station - Night, 1972-1973

Frank Auerbach- Head of J.Y.M., 1973

Dora Woodrum- Intensity, 2012

Dora Woodrum- Serenity, 2012

We close the presentation with a question to stimulate discussion within the class, touching on the importance of how abstract art doesn't focus on the superficial appearance of an object but rather how abstraction focuses on the intrinsic value of the object itself. The question is posed as follows: Do you think that abstract art either depicting women or created by women reflects that same concept of intrinsic value over superficial appearance? Ponder away ladies and gentlemen.

Presentation by:

Glenn Spencer, Steffie Ossa, Brenda Lee, Kevon Haughton

Group 6-- Presentation Summary -- Impressionism

Impressionism

Michelle Nguyen
Christine La Para
Kalyn Ndirangu

We started off the presentations with two slides dedicated to the male impressionist artists. They included four paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Claude Monet.

Pierre Aguste Renoir, The Great Boulevards, 1875

Edgar Degas,The Rehearsal, 1873-78

Claude Monet, Water Lilies 1916

The next slide we dedicated to actually introducing the techniques and styles that make up impressionism art. By doing this, we defined the term itself. The painting consisted of thick strokes of paint, emphasis on accurate depiction of light, nonhistorical and secular subject matter, and inclusion of movement.

Afterwards, we began introducing the female impressionist artists: Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, and Marie Bracquemond. The background of each artists are given in the following slides as well as their corresponding paintings. We picked paintings that would clearly depicts that the art work is indeed impressionism. Each painting have very distinct, visible brushstrokes. The colors are both bright and pastel. The subject matters aren't very detailed. At the end of our presentation, we asked the questions: What impression did Impressionism have on art?

The paintings we covered include but art not limited to:

Marie Bracquemond, On the Terrace  at Sevres, 

Musee du Petit Palais Geneva, Switzerland 1880

Berthe Morisot, Lady at her Toilette,
The Art Institute of Chicago 1875\

Mary Cassatt, In the Loge, 
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1878

Post #2

Victorious Secret Women Breakout!

      Women have come a long way to get where they are now, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, 19^th century, to present day.  During the Middle Ages women were extremely limited as to what would become of them.  The men in their lives determined everything woman did.  This method of control also stretched throughout the Renaissance, it wasn’t until the rights of women bloomed throughout the 19^th century.  During the 19^th century women started to go to work due to the their men being at war, this proved to men and women that women can handle the job of a man.  Women from the Middle Ages to present day used their art to illustrate social issues, as well as women issues.

    The expected role of women in Europe during the Middle Ages was very limited compared to contemporary times.  The Guerrilla Girls quote, “Many of these artists were women, either working in businesses owned by male family members or living as nuns in convents.  “Guerrilla Girls, p. 19)  It is noted that the only way for a women to be able to gain some kind of freedom was to become a nun or to work under a male family member.  What was expected of women was to only marry, and to give her dowry to her future husband, and if she wasn’t married she as to love in a household of a male relative or usually joined a convent.  The Guerrilla Girls say, “Joining a convent freed women from the demanding roles of being wives and mothers.  For some it was to live a religious life, for others it was because their parents had blown the family fortune on their sisters’ dowries.  (Guerrilla Girls, p.21)  Moreover, women were extremely limited politically and independently.  Artistically they also were not given the credit they should have received but instead the dominant male of the family/husband during the Middle Ages received the credit done by women. 

The role of women of the Renaissance Era was the time when women began to slightly rebel against what was expected of them.  The Guerilla Girls quote, “One of the few ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop.” (Guerrilla Girls, p. 29)  If women were lucky enough to become an artists was only through working within the family.  What about the women who weren’t blessed with a family of artist?  I suppose their chances were shot.  Women during this time period were brave enough to paint and illustrate the struggles of a women’s life through their paintings, for instance take Artemisa Gentileschi for example.  Artemisa’s paintings can seem a bit revengeful and blunt but are extremely essential help generations to come the understanding of the struggles during the Renaissance.  Artemisa’s “Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1620”, Guerrilla Girls quote, “The biblical story of a Jewish women who kills an Assyrian General, an enemy of her people, by pretending to seduce him.”  (Guerrilla Girls, p. 37)  This painting represents the power and injustice feeling of a woman during the struggling period of the Renaissance.  

   The 19^th century was the time of major transition for women.  During this century women began to recognize the split between being a “housewife”, and “work”.  Many forms of art such as paintings and quilting told stories of the struggle it was for women also the culture during the 19^th century as well as the Middle Ages.  Chadwick writes, “The design characteristics of nineteenth century African American quilts-vertical stripes, strong colors and shapes, asymmetry and multiple pattering-often the roots (though sometimes disguised) in the forms and elements of African Cosmology and mythology.” (Chadwick, p. 210)  Moreover, in the quilts stories were told, but also were disguised.  These women artists used art to say a message as a way of communication to the public.  For example the “slave quilt code”, is the idea that African American slaves used quilts to communicate information about how to escape to freedom.  (Wiki)  Art made by women was not only to tell the struggles of women but of the generation and cultural struggles.
     

   Overall, women not only were fighting for their rights, but also were undercover activist.  With their artwork women were able to illustrate the contemporary social issues of their generation, and culture, as well as women issues.  Women have a great amount of importance throughout our history in helping us understand what women struggles were from a women’s perspective. Thanks to the help of women artists such as Christine De Pizan, Sofonisba Anguissola, Elisabetta Sirani, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Harriet Powers, and etc., we are able to learn through their art the pros and cons of being a women during their time period. 

Bibliography:

·     * The Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1998. Print.

·     * Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4^th ed. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990, Print.

·      *“Quilts of the Underground Railroads.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad_quilt

Pictures:

1.   *   http://www.momlogic.com/2009/08/how_feminism_hurt_our_love_lives.php

2.   *   https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigk0VfP3EzmeaoQeVPmfWkmK7KSEhxL-RcsnBrB0dwBAg1oNvxs2a-FCNOS8kkfI_i6Kn4FqudDG62nL3JM6nRsWleoPEPWNDR_W42vEKUm_7ZVUiHd4w7Gom6vLicteusU9I0PmqNGJk/s1600/4-30TroubadourGarden.jpg

3.    *  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GENTILESCHI_Judith.jpg

              http://hatterns.com/archives/9497

*This link has awesome pictures and they’re humorous!

4.     http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236694/War-women-Propaganda-postcards-suffragette-era-fierce-battle-fought-American-women-vote--Obama-thank-job.html

Project Summary -- The Female Body: Past and Present

The Female Body: Past and Present

Catherine Ferreira

Mariam Elbedeiwy

Aura Coronel

Tatiana Ramos

 

We began by discussing Venus as a symbol of sex and beauty. The two paintings on display were clearly objectifying the female subject. In the case of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino,” it seems as though Venus is being “served” on a platter to the male spectator. We noted that it is nearly impossible to find art from the past (Renaissance art in our case) that features women while not objectifying then. We raised this question as an afterthought: Is this what a beautiful woman would look like in present day?

Titian, Venus of Urbino (1538)

The following slides featured feminist art by Kirsten Justesen. The woman in “Circumstances” is still nude, and it made us wonder: Is she being objectified, as in the Venus images? No; this woman’s posture is powerful. Her eyes are censored as if to strip her of identity; her identity is that of the average woman. We mentioned in an aside how she is full-figured like Venus, but ideas of the “perfect woman” have changed since the Renaissance. The artwork by Brenda Goodman shares a similar theme—the woman in the painting does not fit into our modern-day conceptions of beautiful and is ridiculed for it.

Kirsten Justesen, Circumstances (1973) 

The next slide is feminist art that tries to reach out to a more general audience. The artists, Nathaneal Lark and Ashley E. Roberts, are not only trying to show that all body types are beautiful, but that women can be beautiful WITHOUT being objectified. This art was made in response to the ideals of feminine beauty we have in present day AND our obsession with feminine beauty in general. We stressed, however, that this kind of art is not the norm, but that it was made in response to the constant objectification of women. “We” (feminists) haven’t yet been successful in removing the perception that women are objects of beauty and/or sex, like the Venus paintings. We are still expected to be symbols of beauty to this day.

Nathanael Lark

The following slide and poster is not art, but popular culture. Again, while we are trying to break out of this habit of objectifying of women in art and popular culture, we haven't yet been quite successful. Relate this back to Venus—our views on women are quite outdated. The only difference between then and now, we noted, is that women are thinner.

The final slide is about the feminist body art movement on Instagram. "Honor Elizabeth Curves," the founder of the movement, seeks to eliminate unrealistic expectations of body image, telling women, “be comfortable with yourself.” The take-home message: you can be beautiful and nude and not be objectified.

Dress for Her!

                Why do we separate the genders? Underneath it all, we are all built the same way. We all have a heart beating and a brain calculating those beats. Put aside the physical differences for a minute: we all are connected in some ways or the other; whether it is through our thoughts or it is through our actions, we are connected. However, no one person can replicate another person completely. That is where the separation comes: we are all individuals. Yet we focus all our attention on isolating the individuals into sects and mainly, those sects consist of commonalities rather than equivalency. Then we proceed to create a surrounding based on these sects known as society. Within that society, we excrete our last drop of sweat into promoting individualism; the irony.

            Now let us take a step forward, or back—however you approach the issue, and examine one of these major sects we have created for ourselves. The sect of gender differences—male versus female; the XX against the XY’s, and so on and so forth. From the moment the genders stepped out of the caves, one instinctively went on to venture the world with a bark in hand while the other decided to turn back around and stay in the confines of the caves. So does this mean separation of genders is a precognitive idea planted within our brains since the moment light touched our eyes? Perhaps, it is. Or perhaps our morals began to narrow as our feet began to slowly roam the world. 

                Shall we fast forward a little to the many years following the spread of civilization? Now assuming that due to it being the early stages of civilization, human minds were constricted. We were less exposed to other human beings, hence our thoughts were limited. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. As humans began to explore out of their realms, their minds slowly began to become restricted. And that restriction never ceased to exist to this day. Let’s examine the Middle Ages for instance; the Age when freedom for women meant just stay within the house and look after the children. And the only means of entertainment was provided if the dominant male figure gave permission. So, it is safe to assume that for a woman to have connection to the world of arts was next to none. But surprisingly enough, many woman during this time period chose art as a method to express and reveal the prejudice created against women.

Sofonisba Anguissola Self-Portrait 1561

                 Women’s success in art during a time period when the definition of success itself meant all things done by men is astonishing. Despite all the restrictions and boundaries, women made sure their voices were heard. Let’s take Sofonisba Anguissola for instance; an artist, luckily enough, born into a humanist mindset family which allowed her to pursue education. But despite her social status, she was unable to publicly distribute her artwork and earn recognition. However, because of skilled understanding of portraiture, she soon began to be compared to masters such as Durer and Rembrandt (Chadwick, 78). She, understanding that the moral codes during the Middle Ages required women to be domesticated, took a step further and began including her talents outside of art within her artworks. Unlike the rebellious artists during that time period, Anguissola chose to work around the social prejudices and in the mean time, become acknowledged. As stated by Chadwick, “as long as she stressed her status as a gentlemen, [her] actions as a professional painted did not conflict with the ideology of Renaissance” (Chadwick, 83).

  But not every woman was capable of manipulating the society’s views.

Artemisia Gentileschi Judith with Her Maidservant c 1618

            Artemisia Gentileschi is a prime example of another method of attacking audiences’ consciences. Her personal conflicts affected her artworks so greatly that even the viewer would feel a personal connection once they see her work. Due to her own personal experience with a man’s leering gaze, Artemisia’s depiction of Suzanna and the Elders captures the real essence of the story (Chadwick, 107). Unlike Tintoretto version of the painting where Susana held an inviting posture, Artemisia delved deeper and brought the true nature of the situation to light, and through the body language of Susana, Artemisia portrayed the realistic thoughts that could have been occupying Susana’s mind. Not only did she catch the attentions of the viewers with her emotion-heavy paintings, she portrayed women to be almost as equal to men. One example would be her personal story influenced painting called Judith with Her Maidservant (Chadwick, 111). Instead of revealing the very moment after Holofernes’ death to be of terrifying and confusing like her father, Orazzio Gentileschi did, she portrayed the situation more of in a confident sense of style. From her posture, down to her stance—the full photo screams strength which was unlike for women to have during that time.

               Moreover, if paintings could not catch society’s attention, then the artists decided to expose themselves via how they carry themselves in public. One of the well-known techniques of expressing oneself was dressing like the male counterparts. A great example would be Rosa Bonheur who ever after acknowledging the strict rules of her surroundings was willing to go through the “permit from the French police, signed by her doctor” every time she wanted to go out in public dressed in men clothing (Guerilla Girls, 48). She promoted self-image for the majority of her life and even to this day, her words hold true.

                 It is true that self-image is, in fact, more important than expected. Even though the male dominated society will do its best to tarnish that image, it is still required for women to stand their ground and not let societal prejudices stop them from achieving greatness. Now comes the era of cooperation; we have passed the Stone Ages, the Bronze Ages, the Middle Ages, and now it is time for us to finally break free  of the barriers set by the males.

Bibliography:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Thames & Hudson-1990-2007

The Guerrilla Girls. Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books-1998

The Great Men-aissance

The roles of women during the Middle Ages were extremely restrictive and oppressive.  Women were often expected to be married by 15 years of age and largely deemed the property of men.  Women lived within a patrilineal structure and their role is best summed up as a “chaste decorous piece of her husband’s lineage”. (Chadwick 76)  Women were barred from owning property and while most women worked, their earnings ultimately belonged to their fathers, husbands or brothers while exceptions to this standard were women living as nuns. It was in the convents as nuns, that women could live and find refuge “beyond the gaze of men and free from the worldly distraction”. (Chadwick p.74)  They subsisted off the land, illustrated manuscripts, wrote books, and educated each other. Some distinguished nuns that were discussed in our readings, and described as mavericks were Christine de Pizan, Hildegard von Bingen and Herrad of Landsberg. With the exception of textile guilds, women were excluded in most cities from truly taking part in the Renaissance movements.  Women were barred from attending the academies or joining the artists’ guilds and many women were illiterate.  The rarest of exceptions were women born into artisan families with progressive attitudes towards women or had private access to family studios. 
The first well-known sixteenth century female Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola is an example of this exception.  She was born into nobility whose father believed women should be educated and thereby fostered her pursuits in the arts.  While most cities in Italy during the Renaissance were papal states dominated by men who supported male privilege and valued patrilineal systems, Bologna was the exception.  Bologna was especially open minded and progressive, allowing women to attend university to nurture their intellect and creativity thereby providing more opportunities for women. Bologna also had a female patron saint named Caterina dei Vigri known as St. Catherine of Bologna, who was an artist and serves as testament to their reverence for women.  Lavinia Fontana is another Bolognese artist regarded as the first woman artist, who worked within the same artistic range as her male counterparts, and did so outside a court or convent.
In most regions and throughout the span of the Renaissance, women experienced more restrictive roles than those during feudal times. This hindered female artists and influenced their artistic content greatly.  Most importantly, women were not allowed to train in the same capacity as men or work with nude models, which ultimately denied them the knowledge base and competitive edge of their contemporaries.  As Linda Nochlin points out in her essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” for women there was “complete unavailability to the aspiring woman artist of any nude models at all, male or female.”  In this essay, Nochlin also explores the institutions constraining the roles of women during the Renaissance in her essay.  In it she argues that because women were so often relegated to concentrating on flower paintings and objects in domestic life, their content wasn’t comparable to their male counterparts thus making them unable to compete and stand among the “great” painters.  Nochlin though, also reiterates the views of Chadwick and the Guerrilla Girls that many of the notable female artists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were either related to or had a close personal connection with male artist. She further asserts that questions relating to the lack of female presence in art and other realms “devolves not upon the relative benevolence or ill-will of individual men, nor the self-confidence or abjectness of individual women, but rather on the very nature of our institutional structures themselves and the view of reality which they impose on the human beings who are part of them.” (Nochlin p6)
Restrictive roles and institutions influenced women artists and their subjects throughout the 19th century. One artist in particular is Artemisia Gentileschi who was the first woman of her time to paint historical and religious themes. Although, as Nochlin discusses in her essay, Artemisia was born into nobility and had access to a central artistic male figure, her father, she still stands out as an excellent example of impeccable talent whose art reflects the sentiments of injustice from a women’s perspective.  The reoccurring symbolic themes in her pieces depict powerful women subjects avenging male offenders.  A vivid example of how these injustices impacted women's subjects in art would be Artemisia Gentileschi’s versions of Judith and Her Maidservant, Judith Slaying Holofernes and Susanna and the Elders.   Holoferne’s decapitation is represented in two pieces Judith and Her Maidservant and Judith Slaying Holofernes. Artemisia and her father, Orazio Gentileschi an artist of the time, rendered quite different versions of  Judith and Her Maidservant. 
 


Artemisia Gentileschi
Judith and Her Maidservant

Orazio Gentileschi
Judith and Her Maidservant






 







Orazio’s illustrates a more sanitized version that focuses on the detail and the opulence of the women’s clothing.  The sword is immaculate and doesn't appear to have been used, he creates a scene where the women look confused by the decapitation rather than active participants. In contrast, Artemisia’s version has the women positioned prominently in the dark sinister foreground, with Judith powerfully handling the sword.  The image gives a much closer look and  focuses on two women actively looking and planning a strategy for their next move.  There is power in their postures that clearly sets a different tone than Orazio's version. In addition, Gentileschi’s version of Judith Slaying Holofernes depicts the rage of two women unapologetically taking their power back.  Artemisia's vengeance for her real-life trauma were dramatically illustrated in the bloodied graphic depiction of Holofernes’ slaying. It can be interpreted that Artemisia’s version of Judith Slaying Holofernes is retribution for the violations she experienced in her own life.



Artemisia Gentileschi
Judith Slaying Holofernes

Another example of the of the injustices and how they manifested in women's art is Gentileschi’s version of Susanna and the Elders. She clearly depicts the male elders as lecherous and vile to the female subject in the painting which is in clear contrast to Tintoretto’s version.  Tintoretto creates a more tranquil depiction, focusing on the lush scenery that suggests the female subject is a willing participant and almost encouraging the voyeurism of the two men lurking in the backgrounds.  Tintoretto’s version also postures the female subject in a way that illustrates and reinforces the idea of the male gaze.

Artemisia Gentileschi's
Susanna and the Elders



Tintoretto's version of
Susanna and the Elders

Bibliography:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Print.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.

Nochlin, Linda. Women, Art, and Power: And Other Essays. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Print.

Group 2 Presentation Summary 09/26/13:

Lisa Chavis, Mahrukh Khan, Sima Kalam, Lakisha Hassell

http://prezi.com/jbtdzhodmfdi/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Domestication of Women

Changes from 15th through 18th Centuries:

Women in the North began to have more freedom and more of an education due to a break from Catholicism. This move increased women's participation in the visual arts.  Although women get some level of advancement, they are still relegated to the home. Paintings of women are showing them engrossed in task such as sowing, lace-making, and spinning. A virtuous woman will do her domestic work and this is what makes her happy and content. Women at this time are not being depicted for their beauty but simply as the keepers of the domestic sphere.

The emerging middle class in America after WWII reinforced the domestication of women. Advertisement in the 1950's depicted women as happy housewives and success was equivalent to her having things to make the home perfect. These images were mostly used as American propaganda during the "Cold War" and showed the "horror" in the lives of Russian women.  These images were equivalent to the changes in Northern Europe because of the new "Mercantile class."  Establishing new wealth and prosperity which was once only available to the aristocracy.

The only reason some women would go to college was to find a suitable husband. Is this still relevant? Yes, even though there is access to education women still were told you must get a husband and take care of home. Women in the 16th, 17th, and the 18th centuries were challenged with expressing themselves in a patriarchal system that refused to grant merit to women's views.

Through different cultures there is one consistency the domestication of women.  Women all over the world are expected to be submissive to their fathers and then their husbands. From religious aspects to cultural differences, their is one constant the woman's place was the home. Her place is the private sphere, her duty is to take care of husband, house and children.

By the end of 18th century, women were increasingly able to speak out against injustices.
Equal Rights Movement: Then and Now.

Does society still hold the belief that women are meant to be domesticated or is it possible for women to work as an equal to men?

Group 3 Synopsis

For the third group presentation, we aimed to focus on a subtler change in the Renaissance. The profession of art definitely experienced a huge boom in the overall presence of women; however, the subject matter also changed. Women were featured in the ever-present vapid nude. They also, however, experienced a revival in imagery that communicated concrete ideas about their lives. 

Untitled
Sebastiano Mainardi
Second Half of the 18th Century

Design in the Ceiling of the
Royal Academy in London
Angelica Kauffman
1778

The above images demonstrate a radical change. Mainardi merely implies the woman objectified in the foreground holds an education by placing a book in the background on the shelf. Even then, the book would have represented her family's education, not the subject's. Kauffman completely deviates from the standard by showing an educated woman in action. She's not only implied as educated, she's enthralled with her art. She's completely absorbed and defined by her education, not her profile. 

Marie Antoinette with Her Children
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebraun
1787

Marie Antoinette
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebraun
1783

In these examples, we have the unique opportunity to analyze the difference between two different works of the same artist. The paintings, created only four years apart, show a radical difference in artist intention. The first, created in 1783, was created purely for the viewing pleasure of the queen and her subjects. She's depicted in stunning dress, with a perfect rose, and her beauty literally glows in her porcelain skin. The latter painting shows a very different queen. This is a mother not only of the children, but of her country. She cradles a child in her lap while one looks lovingly to her face. The other child calmly gestures to an empty cradle, a reference to the hardships the queen faced in conceiving and miscarrying a child. This painting adds substance and moral credibility to a monarchy whose foundations crumbled in the face of revolution.

Portrait of a Noble Woman
Allori Alessandro
Late 17th Centry

Woman Knitting
Francoise Duparc
Late 18th Century

The last two images are a comparison of virtue. Alessandro's Portrait of a Noble Woman is another image of a woman meant to be analzyed at face value. The artist paints her with beautiful skin in ornate dress. She's mean to act as a trophy, representing her family's wealth and beauty. A book rests in her hand along with a handkerchief, again implying connections to education and perhaps skills in lacemaking. Duparc's image, in comparison, is nearly radical. Duparc features a young woman hard at work on her knitting. While Alessandro's woman stares at the viewer, aware of the gaze she lives under, the subject in Woman Knitting is completely absorbed. Her concentration is meant as a sign of virtue. She stares concentratedly at the knitting because she's a dedicated homemaker. Her activity isn't just a show of her skill, it's a testament to her virtues.