In Due Time

It seems that through out all the centuries, a woman always seems to have a "place".  That place is also decided by men. If the woman wont abide to the rules of men, she is looked upon as a disgrace by her family and society.  Chadwick and Guerrilla Girls show how that it needs to end.  There has been so many amazing female artists that aren't recognized and taken for granted.

In the middle ages women who decided to pursue their artistic dreams had a lot of limitations.  "Many of these artists were women, either working in business owned by male family members or living as nuns in convents" (Guerrilla Girls, 19). So if a woman wants to an artistic she's either controlled by a man, or she needs to a nun. Either way there is no profit to the woman and no fame.  Even if a woman proved herself as a great artist, she had no ability to become a teacher like all the males.  Chadwick says, "Within the convent women had access to learning even though they were prohibited from teaching by St. Paul's caution that ""a woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission.  I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet"" (Chadwick 45).  Yet again, even a religious woman whose intention is pure and to spread education was not allowed to do such because a man said so.  Indeed, they said these were bible teachings, but i would like to say that men also did things that were not allowed by the bible.  The role of a woman is to stay at home cook, clean and take care of the children "according to men".

Then in the renaissance came along and the roles of women did change a bit. "she could attend or teach in a university if she moved to Bologna" (Guerrilla Girls, 32), which is progress, they went from not being able to teach at all to some what being able to. One of the most amazing but yet aggravating event is what happened with Artemisia Gentileschi.  She was allowed to express her art, but she was raped.  Even though her raping was a horrible event, it brought her to a new direction.

Through this she painted Susanna and the Elders .  "Susanna and the Elders offers striking evidence of Gentileschi's ability to transform the conventions of seventeenth century paintings in ways that would ultimately give new content to the imagery of the female figure" (Chadwick, 109), the reason Chadwick says so is because there was a previous painting of Susanna and the Elders by Tintoretto in which he displays Susanna as the seductive woman who pulls in the elders.  This image of woman being seductive is how women were seen.  If they were raped, its not because of man's lust, but because of how seducing the woman is.  This idea originates all the way from Adam and Eve. After she was raped, she painted Susanna as the victim, that she is trying to push the elders away and she is very defensive.

Artemisia Gentileschi Susanna and the Elders 1610

Tintoretto Susanna and the Elders 1555-56

Then came along the 17th and 18th century, where women were not allowed to draw nudes.  On the other hand there was a positive change, where not only women were allowed to teach, but now there were women teaching mean.  Judith Lester was that woman who made the move to teach men.  "She also is known have had three male students, which means she has a good reputation" (Guerrilla Girls, 40).  Although her work was attributed to several males.  

In the 19th century Edmonia Lewis was making her move.  "Edmonia Lewis had to go to Italy to make art about slavery in the U.S." (Guerrilla Girls, 50).  She went to Oberlin College in Ohio, there she was accused of poisoning two girls and that caused her to not be able to enroll anymore, but she was found guilty so she wasn't imprisoned.  After that she decided to leave to Boston and be a sculptor. She made great work and made enough money to go to Rome.  "Edmonia did all her own marble carving, partly to save money and partly to prove that a black woman could do it" (51).  Edmonia Lewis said, "I am going to Italy, to do something for the race- something that will excite the admiration of the other races of the Earth" (51).

The Death of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis 

This was an amazing tansition, but women did not quite make it all the way.  Till today males get more admiration with their art than women and that will change.  Maybe not today, tomorrow or next year, but with all the efforts women put in something will happen, eventually.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

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

"Search Collections." The Death of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis / American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=33878>.

"Susanna and the Elders." Susanna and the Elders. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/women/susanna.html>.

"Susanna and the Elders." Susanna and the Elders. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/women/susanna.html>.