Class trip to Brooklyn Museum details

++BROOKLYN MUSEUM TRIP++
We will be meeting at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, November 16th at 12pm
We will be visiting Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party and the other galleries of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

We will meet in the glass lobby of the museum near the main entrance door at least 10 minutes BEFORE 12pm. Buy your ticket as soon as you arrive. Remember general admission to the museum is a suggested donation. We will assemble here and I will be leading all of us upstairs to see the Dinner Party all together. I will walk you through the installation and explain as much as I can about it and you will all have time to experience the installation for yourselves. You will then be able to visit any part of the museum after we are done. I highly recommend staying and seeing other galleries!

Give yourself extra time for traveling on the weekend. Directions to the Brooklyn Museum can be found here. There is street parking near the museum if you drive there. Careful to read street regulation signs carefully. There is also a parking lot at the museum where you can pay to park. Speak to other students about car pooling together or traveling together via public transportation. Please feel free to invite a guest to join.

Attendance at the class trip will count in place of the writing assignment, Post 4 (5pts) only if you attend on 11/16 with the class.

POST 4 
Can you name 5 women artists?
MANDATORY if you did not go to the Brooklyn Museum on 11/16
*** Extra credit +5 if you visit the museum on 11/16

Concentrating on contemporary artists, choose 5 women artists to illustrate and briefly explain various themes we have discussed throughout the course about gender, race, class and art history. You can organize your post into genres, 'isms, political or societal messages, aesthetics, techniques or personal narratives. You must choose a clear thesis and the 5 artists carefully. Your post MUST include artists working today. Be sure to illustrate your post with various images (and/or videos) and to cite your research.

Please reference Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party and other exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum if you visited.

~800 words, citations and bibliographic info and 5+ images with captions. See checklist from previous posts.

++++++++
Extra credit writing assignment for *up to 5pts* if you visit the Brooklyn Museum on your own

If you are unable to attend the Brooklyn Museum with the class but can still make the trip on a different day you can receive up to 5pts of credit. You must visit Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum. Read all of the supporting materials in the exhibition and browse the information on the small interactive tablet outside the installation. Spend some time in The Dinner Party paying close attention to the details of the place settings, note the names and techniques, the imagery and patterns. Choose a few of your favorite place settings. Note how many names might be familiar to you. Write 3+ paragraphs about your experience with The Dinner Party. Include names, details, techniques and your own reactions.

Visit at least one other gallery/floor in the museum! Include a few details about that as well in your post. Have fun and explore!

Gender Roles, Subject, & Power

Salmah Aldaghady

Art and Women

October 19th, 2019

Gender Roles, Subject, & Power

During the Middle Ages in Europe, as it was known to be a very oppressive time for the women. There were rules they had to follow which were very strict gender roles in a patriarchal culture. Women at young age were taught and trained to get married at a young age. According to the Guerilla Girls, “women were usually engaged to be married at age 12 and were married by age 15” (Guerrilla 22). Women were expected to show submission to their husbands because it was seen as men were the ones that always has to be superior. Women were expected to be submissive of men because the man always had to be the ones who hold the role of being superior. During this era all women were expected to stay at home and be submissive to their husband. This means that she needs to be a housewife and follow all her husband’s rules and guidelines to provide for her husband and her family. According to the Guerilla Girls, “A woman had to obey her husband, and he could beat her if she didn’t” (Guerrilla 22). This quote shows the severity of how submissive a woman needed to be. With this being said, women in this time period couldn’t get an education because if they went out to seek knowledge that would take away time from her being at home and cleaning, cooking, taking care of their children etc. of whatever sort her husband commanded her to do and that was not allowed unless further consequences would happen.

Moving forward to the Renaissance time period, things got better and easier for women. In the Renaissance time period women gained more freedom.  According to the Guerilla Girls, “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, 29). Being an artist gave more freedom to the women and allowed her to express herself more. In the Whitney Chadwick reading “Women, Art, and Society”, Chadwick says, “Bologna was unique among Italian cities for having both a University which had educated women since the Middle Ages” (Chadwick,87). Bologna was a really great city in which women could went to the university to get educated. Here you can see the difference in time periods and how much freedom women had in the Renaissance time period. The rich women were at more of an advantage because it was easier for them to go to Bologna and advertise their work there. The school of Bologna was really great for women because it gave them the opportunity to learn law, philosophy and art.

Furthermore, the nineteenth century was an even better time period for women. This time period allowed women to work outside of their homes which gave them even more opportunity to express themselves rather than being completely submissive to their husbands by having no freedom. The nineteenth century was the beginning era where women’s voices were heard towards gaining more freedom and equality. Rosa Bonheur’s was a women artist who encouraged women to be rebellious and fight for what they want. Rosa Bonheur’s father believed in gender equality and education for women. Rosa’s father was a director of an art school for women and at that school Rosa learned how to express herself through learning how to paint. In this time period Rosa was known to be as a very successful due to her pushing other women to fight for their own rights. One of Rosa’s beliefs were to “Let women establish their claims by great and good works and not by conventions” (Guerrilla Girls,49) Rosa voiced her gender inequality and disagreement about women not being able to voice their opinion complete and she wanted to encourage other women like her to do the same. Through Rosa’s artwork she demonstrated the struggles and battles women go through against men. After Rosa’s remarkable painting called The Horse Fair, she become one of the best-loved artists in Europe. In the image below, it represents what women endure when battling back with men and restraining by men. Chadwick says, "Images of animals frequently symbolized the vices and virtues of women. Constantly exhorted to rise”. Women were so degraded to the degree that they were compared to animals which is so offensive because everyone needs to be treated like they are human.

              

Rosa Bonheur inspired many other women to be powerful through their artwork. An example of this is a woman named Harriet Powers who was born into slavery and that on its own is a very big tragedy. Being a slave means facing a lot of racism and discrimination. Harriet was one of the most famous women to have her quits in a museum. Her quit was called the “Pictorial Quilt” and was made in the year of 1895. At first the quilt was discovered by a school teacher named Jennie B. Smith at a local fair. She noticed this quilt and offered Harriet five dollars but Harriet refused. She was still able to see it when she wanted to. Jennie later on entered the quilt in the Cotton States Exposition and there was a group of women that were amazed by it and insisted for Harriet to make another one.

Despite their troubles, these jobs affected the women from multiple points of view. For instance, during medieval occasions, women were getting forced into marriages at a youthful age and were viewed as the inferior contrasted with men. Women were particularly obliged at that time. As stated before, the woman's role was only to be a housewife who had to cook, clean, as well as take care of her husband and their children. The only exception there was for a woman to get an education was if she became a nun. Going into the Renaissance time, despite the fact that ladies were as yet optional to men, the women were able to gain more rights by allowing them to gain more freedom and to become an artist.

Harriet Powers, Pictorial Quilt, 1895

Work Cited:

The Guerrilla Girls, The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (New York, Penguin       Books, 1998)

Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 4th or 5th edition, (New York: Thames and Hudson), 2007.

Roles of Women

A woman’s role in the Middle Ages were quite simple: be a mother/wife/daughter, stay in the house while the men went out to do their thing, cook, clean, care for the kids, and that was it. There were times were the women were able to have their own recreation time where they could sew, dance, or even paint and for some women, it got to the point where they are tired of only painting for recreation.

While many women were fighting for their education and their rights to be able to have their own careers, those who were “in classical civilizations were the virtual prisoners of the men in their lives” (Guerilla Girls, pg 19). The pressure of being a woman was never something that we were warned about, but especially back in the Middle Ages the term “prisoner” cleanly describes what it was like to be a woman. It took a lot of years to get past all of it, it took a lot of women willing to rebel and finally do what they want however that alone took connections.

Moving through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, it was still the same nonsense however if you had the right family you were able to get yourself into an academy or painters guild. The only way to become somewhat successful and begin your path was to be born into a family of painters who can supply you with tools and a location to paint. Sofonisba Anguissola was considered one of the lucky ones in her day because her father was a well-known painter who believed in education for women. So, when Sofonisba grew older and found her love for painting her father let her work in his workshop and sent her paintings out to the great Michelangelo.

Sofonisba Anguissola, self portrait

Unfortunately, just because these women found their way to produce their art does not mean it was something that was becoming welcomed. While it was something that became more normalized, I guess you could say for women to paint, they still were not able to receive wages or anything for their paintings so it was just like they were back into painting for fun on their recreation time. Because of that, the subjects of what they painted were very limited. There were self-portraits, bible stories, their own stories or scenarios that happened to them, but you would never see something painted by a woman that consisted of an action men would do, besides them staring at women. For women to be seen anywhere trying to sell their paintings or just anywhere outside of the house at all was something that apparently made men uncomfortable as they must have been afraid of women becoming more superior.

Friendless and Nameless, Emily Mary Osborn 1857

Into the 19^th century though, women started going and finally getting places with their art. They were able to be educated, were seen with their art from different parts of the world, and finally stuck together in their form of a sisterhood to do what they knew had to be done. They were willing to fight back and knew their worth with their art and that was paved by those women in the earlier century who were not afraid to be vocal about their opinions on women not being able to earn wages from their work. The women were finally able to get up and show that we are equal to men when it came to the art and some women were even better than the male artists. Women were getting asked to paint pictures for royal families which was a huge success, and even though there were some that received back backlash, they sacrificed and followed through for the growth of the future and the culture of women and that was something important to do during the 19^th century, especially in such a time where there are a lot of things changing. The women weren’t afraid to fight for what they wanted at that point because it’s almost as if they were trying to do so for the longest time and it was just a process of elimination.

Feeding the Swans, Edith Hayllar 1889 

Having to constantly fight to prove yourself as a woman is something that will always be relevant however I think today we have seen so many successful women in doing so that it is good motivation and a reminder to never give up because the fight might not help you directly, but it will make an impact down the road.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Thames & Hudson, 2012. 

Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin 

Books, 1998

The Roles of Women in the Middle Ages, Renaissance and the 19th Century

Lady Godiva by John Collier, c. 1897

When it comes to defying the odds, women take the crown. For the longest time men have always had a say in what the role of the woman should be. In the Middle Ages, women were not taken seriously and were looked down upon, robbing them the chance of becoming the greatest they could be. Being a woman meant being limited to the amount of things you could contribute to the world. It meant choosing between being a wife or a nun. Unless given approval by the men in their lives, women were not allowed to be educated or pursue any form of education. Being a woman in the Middle Ages meant being submissive to those around you. Without the approval of men, women were not allowed to do anything. Art and women in the middle ages is very hard to point out being that women were either forced to marry or relocate to religious institutions where they would later become nuns.

 Women during the Middle Ages were very limited to the things they were allowed to do. During this time period, men took control of the amount of freedom women had and had a say in everything they did. They took credit for the hard work woman put into creating beautiful masterpieces.  The role of the woman was to get married and be submissive to her husband or even the men around her. She was obligated to adhere to everything the men surrounding her told her to do.  At this point in time, Women had a lot to offer. They were intelligent and artistic but men seemed to always want to take that away from them. As said on page 19 of the Guerrilla Girls, "Few of these artists signed their work, so it's not easy to attribute specific works to individual artists. Instead it is the patrons, whose names were recorded, who get the credit. For once, male artists are as forgotten as the females" (Girls, 19-21). Men were so powerful that women would create incredible works of arts and it would be the men who took credit for their work.  Slowly but surely, women will start to get the recognition they deserve as time progresses.

Portia Wounding her Thigh
Elisabetta Sirani
c. 1664

When it came to the Renaissance and the 19th Century, women's roles were assigned based on the different classes. If a woman was single she was forced to joining a covenant, The women in the low class were expected to be stay at home and take care of everything that had to do with the maintenance of the home. The working class women were expected to stay amongst their husbands and help run their business as well as work for them. Although the upper class women had servants to do pretty much everything for them, they were still expected to take care of their household. They were also not allowed to be seen alone or even live by themselves if they were not married. When it came to expressing their ideas, it was easier for the upper class women to have a say but even then their ideas were overshadowed by the ideologies of men.






Works Cited:

Girls, Guerrilla. The Guerrilla Girls beside Companion to the History of Western Art. 1998.

Matthews, Mimi. “The Legend of Lady Godiva: Depictions in Art, Literature, and History.” Mimi Matthews, https://www.mimimatthews.com/.

POST 2

The expected roles of women in Europe in the Middle Ages were wives,

mothers, daughters, etc.. The woman during this time period was expected

to cook, clean, and care for the children. She had no place in the public,

instead she was expected to stay inside the home. Vanity, objectification,

and the male gaze were in full effect. The following picture is representative

of the way women were expected to carry themselves and live in this time

period. Mostly every item is symbolic of something the woman was to do

or be in her everyday life that ultimately benefited men. For example, the

setting: inside the home, represents where women typically were perceived

to belong during the Middle Ages. The mirror signifies the beauty women

were supposed to exhibit; in combination, the long pink dress the woman

is wearing is also representative of this, as well as the obligation to

constantly be a form of entertainment for men. The table with the utensils

represents the cooking and cleaning women were to perform on a daily

basis while waiting for their husbands. Lastly, the crosses show the

importance of religion during this time period.

"Thamar" from Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus 1355-59

Throughout the Renaissance, the status of women basically remained

unchanged. Unfortunately, their roles still consisted of the relevance of

entertaining men. The only way they could pursue the passion of

becoming an artist was by being born into a family of artists. Many

women artists were also able to prosper in the small city of Bologna,

Italy. In fact, a woman “could attend or teach in a university if she moved

to Bologna” (Guerrilla Girls, p 32). Sofonisba Anguissola was a great

example of both. Given that she was the daughter of Amilcare Anguissola,

she had the privilege of being educated and recognized for her artwork

thanks to her father. She had produced sophisticated works since her

early stages of her career as an artist such as her Self-Portrait in 1561.

The piece of artwork showed a serious young woman, in contrast to the

happy and vain woman which was considered ideal at the time. The peak

of her artistic talent showed in her Portrait of Queen Anne of Austria in

1570, posted below. Sofonisba was not afraid to display girl power in this

painting, evidently displayed in the strong highlight of the Queen’s face.

In the process of representing a powerful woman, not an object, she paints

the Queen in all black clothing while using a dark background. This

eliminates any form of vanity, weakness, or objectification men expected

to see in women of that time period.

Sofonisba Anguissola Portrait of Queen Anne of Austria c. 1570

On the other hand, the outcome was different for ordinary women.

Unfortunately they remained stuck, much like the bored, vulnerable

women in the pictures such as the one shown below. Art was only

acceptable as a hobby for the ordinary woman and was not to be pursued

outside the home. If a woman wished to show herself in public, it was

only socially acceptable if she was there to provide entertainment for men.

As Renoir mentioned, “The woman artist is merely ridiculous, but I am in

favor of the female singer and dancer” (quoted in Chadwick, p 234). This

was a completely acceptable form of expression, considering that the

social norms for this time period corresponded with Renoir’s thought process. Thus, today we have so many paintings of women inside the home produced by women inside the home.

Mary Cassatt A Cup of Tea c. 1880

Into the 19th century, women were still left with very few rights despite the changes that occurred. If they wished to work, they were provided with tasks which were considered low skill, despite the reality of the amount of skill required for the jobs they performed. Young girls were sent to work long hours in the textile industry. Middle to high-class women, although still not getting paid as much as men, were allowed to specialize in lace-making or some kind of sewing at this time. They were also allowed to be nuns, although barely recognized for their small teaching roles. Poor women often became wet nurses for the wealthy or prostitutes. In general, women did have more opportunities for work than in the past. Women born into artistic or noble families were provided with a far deeper understanding of what life has to offer along with adequate education as opposed to poor women. Female artists of this time began to produce far more intricate work than those in the past. Impressionism was the new art trend at this time. It consisted of many different colors and lights. It also produced more abstract images rather than realistic. Keeping up with their male counterparts, women artists also participated in the era of impressionism. The following coming of age painting by Berthe Morisot is an excellent example of the way female artists expressed themselves using the impressionist technique. This painting expresses the reluctance of a young lady to face the role society desires her to take on as a woman living in the 19th century.

Berthe Morisot Psyche 1876

In conclusion, despite the progress made toward women’s rights, the value of neoclassicism produced a negative effect on women; thus, slowing the process down when it came to taking a step forward. Constant ties to this concept strengthened the attempt to pull society back into Greek and Roman ideals of women. Luckily this did not prevent the nonbelievers of this ideal to continue fighting for women’s rights. As a result, some women were still able to shine and share their artwork with the world.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 1990. Print.

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

“Renaissance Cities--Bologna, Italy.” Renaissance Cities--Bologna, Italy, http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2016/02/renaissance-cities-bologna-italy.html.

Contact@theartwolf.com. “THE IMPRESSIONISM SEEN THROUGH 50 PAINTINGS.” 50 Impressionist Paintings - the Impressionism Seen through 50 Works, http://www.theartwolf.com/articles/50-impressionist-paintings.htm.

“Neoclassical Art Movement.” Identify This Art - Your Guide through the Art Movements, https://www.identifythisart.com/art-movements-styles/pre-modern-art/neoclassical-art-movement/.