Women and Western Art

From today’s Washington Post…an article about language and how women (here politicians) are described and defined and…

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What themes arose in the 60-second narratives you told and heard about “artists and patrons, identities and strategies?”
Some of the themes I heard focused on the art history canon (where do women artists belong?), “woman’s sexuality” as seen by individual female and male artists, celebrity/ies, contemporary politics, echoes/revisions of NMWA, and women artists from [...]

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Robin Givhan’s recent article in the Washington Post, “Touching Up (and On) Feminist Roots.”

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For October 30, think about your responses to the following questions to prepare for our discussion of the art and readings assigned.
Race Questionnaire
The following is adapted from B. Schneider, Race, An Anthology in the First Person (New York:  Crown, 1997).
1.  How was race explained to you as a child?  Was it explained to you at [...]

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Here is the link to CultureGrrl…the blog Dr. Chew mentioned last week in her discussion of the recent events at Randolph College.
And an update from CultureGrrl.

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Please respond to Kerry’s comment (first to follow) and discussion on Vigée-Lebrun.

Vigée-Lebrun, Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, after 1782
I’ve added a few images below for consideration…  They are familiar and powerful images.

Velázquez, Fraga Philip, 1644 (Frick)

Rubens, Triumph of Victory, ca. 1614 (Kassel)

Rubens, Allegory of War, 1637-38 (Florence, Pitti)

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Please read Dana’s comment (first comment here) before discussing in a following comment your self-portrait. Images and texts are welcome.  In addition to Dana’s questions, I ask that you tell us how large your self-portrait is.

Labille-Guiard, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils…, 1785

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“Approximately half of the forty women artists discussed in this book survive only as a name on a printed page.” (F. Jacobs, Defining the Renaissance Virtuosa…, 1997/1999, 1)
How can we write (or study) a history of works that no longer exist, and likely haven’t existed for centuries?
Why have Sofonisba Anguissola’s and Lavinia Fontana’s [...]

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As you read W. and M. Wittkower on Gentileschi, consider the language the authors use to describe Gentileschi, her personality, career, attitude(s), art, and the “case of seduction.” How do they describe Agostino Tassi and his actions? How does the “legend” of Gentileschi compare with Vasari’s account of Properzia dei Rossi?
One theme we [...]

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Two points that came out in our discussion of clothing are: social restrictions imposed on men and women regarding the clothing and accessories they wore (sumptuary laws), and the bodily restrictions clothing imposed on the wearer.
Sumptuary laws made it possible to see/recognize social hierarchies, thus maintaining the stratification of social classes. These laws [...]

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