"In America, the Abolition, Temperance, and Suffrage movements profoundly influenced the lives of middle- and upper-class women aspiring to professional careers in the arts." (Chadwick pg. 175) The expected roles of women changed by not an inch, but a mile in Western society in the Middle Ages. While, women artist lives were under construction they were still being watched under a microscope. A number of aspects changed the forum for women. The Industrial Revolution, economic changes, the printing press, and The Women's Right Movement all played major roles in the lives of women artist. Although, gender remains to play a role in the Middle Ages, women were stepping out, and up to the plate.
Women roles changed dramatically throughout the Renaissance into the 19th Century, but there was still a war to be won. Women in the Renaissance had no power, and male domination was superior over any rights of a women. Women were only of importance in the domestic sphere, and their role was to take care the children plus the household. She was to be seen not heard. While, upper class women had more power than lower class women she was still not a man. Working class women still followed suit behind their husbands in running the business. The Renaissance didn't provide a platform for women compared to the 19th Century.
Portrait of Rosa Bonheur
The 19th Century was a century of social change. Suffrage and abolition were key, and women artist didn't want to be restricted to the household or subordinate to men. Women in general wanted the same equal rights of men, and to perform the same art as well. Obedience was no longer a factor. In a sense their was a divorce in progress with women leaving their domestic roles behind and started to work. Women were becoming "Radical Feminist" and fighting for a movement. "Women artist existed in a contradictory relationship to the prevailing middle-class ideals of femininity. They were caught between a social ideology that prohibited the individual competition and public visibility necessary for success in the arts, and the educational and social reform movements that made the nineteenth century the greatest period of female progress in history." (Chadwick pg. 177)
"Like Bonheur, Elizabeth Thompson refused to be restricted to feminine subjects she painted the world of war and soldiers lives, a world which was understood to belong to men, and she also experienced dazzling success for a relatively brief period." (Chadwick pg. 197) While, women were pushing forward they were not given the glory as of yet. The fight for women continued with male dominance. Women wanted total freedom, and not the freedom they sought in the church, but with their art. Religion was an outlet for women, but equality would suit fit. Women had to work twice as hard as men in every aspect.
Conformity was in full affect, and it was so long for being an object of the male desire. Women were being who they truly were , and that is an artist. While, some women artist didn't come from a social class of artisans, and some were amateur their talent was nonetheless. Aristocratic families was deemed powerful, but not every artist had that luxury. The Renaissance to the 19th Century proved that societal views on some would no longer restrict women artists from constructing their talents. Women were not bowing down to a "certain type of art." Women artists proved they were worthy to perform the same art as their male counterparts. "The society of female artists, which encouraged both amateurs and professionals to exhibit, provided one of several important venues for women's work on themes of travel and the Orient." (Chadwick pg. 202)
Judith Leyster..The Proposition 1631
Depicts a women sewing by candlelight, as a man leans in and offer her money. He is offering her coins as if she is a prostitute as she ignores him, and continues with her work.
Bibliography:
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art and Society.
London: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls Bedside
Companion to the History of Western Art.
New York: Penguin 1998.
http://www.chillhousemedia.com/art_history/brush/leyster.html
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