Linda Nochlin's Essay: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists

Instead, if we look at art as the total of toleration and production and purpose, we see that there was a whole system in place that excluded women from creating the type of work that made artists like Michelangelo and Raphael famous. So, why haven't there been any great women artists? Nochlin's answer is two-fold: first, the myth of artistic genius, which has been a part of art writing since Pliny, makes it seem that anyone with true artistic gifts would naturally make

The question “Why have there been no great women artists?” has been debated since the 1970’s, when historian Linda Nochlin released her book of a similar name. In the decades that have followed, the number of women pursuing education and

Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity was written by Griselda Pollock in 1988, and later published in The Expanding Disclosure in 1992. Griselda Pollock is an art historian, and writes this article for fellow art historians. This is an article written to show the different approaches to femininity in the late 19th century, mainly dealing with the field of art. This article shows how during this time period there were women artists, but due to the gendered ruled ideas attached to art history, these women are largely ignored by art historians. Pollock thought that these women artists are primarily overlooked due to the fact that they are judged by the same standards that are affixed to the work of their male counterparts. But she argues

“Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was written with a passion both intense and familiar. Reading Nochlin’s words, I found myself thinking, several times, “I’d always wondered the same thing,” or “I feel the same way.” I even formulated some of my own thoughts on the subject, responding to the title question with another, asking, “What makes an artist an artist?” Upsettingly, it would seem it is not by her own choice or talent. It is decided by the world around her, including the men and “social institutions.” However, it would also appear that hope is always in reach for those who will wake up and grab it. Nochlin left us with this stirring advice:

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” -Oscar Wilde. Women are wild, sensitive, magnificent, mysterious, and above all: individual. Art’s many different medias allowed artist throughout the ages to capture women at both their strongest and most vulnerable points. It has the power to capture a woman: as a naïve, young girl clutching her brother as they are painted into a lasting portrait, a golden statue of an angel sent down to Earth to help a saved man take his first steps into an eternal life with God, to the powerful goddess, Artemis, transforming a hunter into a deer and having his hunting dogs tragically attack him. The six pieces of art chosen express the individuality of each women who has walked, walks, and will walk the earth.

1985 (Figure 2) first appeared in 1985 plastered on billboards around New York City. The piece is illustrated in monochrome colours so to not distract viewers from the meaning of the poster. The harsh contrast in colours between the black writing and white background make the piece stand out and draw the attention of bypassers. Written on the artwork is a list of well-known museums in New York City and beside them is a score of how many women artists have had one-person exhibits there in the past year. The results showed that the Guggenheim, Metropolitan and Whitney museums each had zero, whilst the Modern museum had one. These results are supposed to shock the audience and make gallery curators feel a sense of guilt, that it’s clear the art world don’t appreciate women artists like they do men. Whist they are confronting the public with that truth they are also providing another critical message with this piece. The Guerrilla Girls identified these museums by first name, not out of convenience, but to make a statement, that the only museums to allow women artist some form of respect like male artist do was the ‘modern’ museum. Emphasising the fact that gender discrimination and bias nature in the art world should be in the past, and the only museum that realises and recognises this is the modern one. The poster’s main message challenges the patriarchal world of art and confronts art galleries

In the twenty first century there are a few men in this world that admits when you think of artist, you don’t typically think of women. Women rights and racism play a strong role when it comes to African American female artist. For decades’ African American woman have always had a permanent double bull’s eye on their back. Their skin and gender was their worst enemy. In the 1700 century women rights movements started to rise. But if you look up women right movements starting in the 1700 century, the face of women rights is predominantly white women. Between books and the internet, they show that it was mostly white women who helped woman rights. If we still struggle to shine light on African American Women now in the 21st century, you cannot

Have you ever looked at a piece of art and wondered how it could be based on real life, because it was just so beautiful? Well Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun was able to paint in such new and exciting ways; people were left wondering just this. Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun was a woman of many talents. In her life time she came up with new ways of painting, revolutionized fashion in France, and overcame any prejudice thinking because she was a woman. Before dying at the age of eighty-seven, she had gained the respect of women and men all across the world. Being a female artist in the eighteenth century was not easy, especially when you had to keep a career and your life together during the

During her time in SCEGGS (Sydney church girls grammar school) she introduced girls to painting in a unique way which was new and unpractised by many other art school classes at that time. Soon her work went viral, and art education all across the country was starting to change with the influence of Stephens efforts in the field. For the girls at SCEGGS, Stephens facilitated the chance of a nurturing art education and demonstrated how they might negotiate the tensions of a professional life and life as a respectable middle-class woman who is expected to be a house wise considering how things were different for girls around that period of time. In Kummerfeld’s paper, she focuses her attention on Stephens’ teaching and considers how her method, combined with her artistic practice, influenced her students. In short, Kummerfeld’s paper explores the role of art education in creating suitable careers. Kummerfeld concluded that Stephens’ actions and experiences show the ways she negotiated between society’s expectations and what imagination can

The study of why women artists have systematically been erased from history and why currently the exhibition of women's art is not valued as much as the male artists' continues. There have been many theories behind the eradication of women artists from history. At the beginning of the Women's Liberation Movement, an art historian by the name of Linda Nochlin published an article called, "Why have there been no great women artists?" In here article, she addressed her own question offering one of the first consciously feminist challenges to the established canons of art history. Her query proved to be a rallying cry for women artists in the fervent days of the Women's Liberation movement and offered fragments of a manifesto to women artists, and others, intent on reexamining and ultimately restructuring the discipline (Morse, 1992). Nochlin argues that contemporary feminists contend that there is a different "greatness" between men's art and women's art. This view of art undermines the general discipline. It categorizes its value in order to give it a higher classification among gender. Many women are trying to delve back into history and recapture any trace of artistic women in order to document and arrange their

Fiona Hall and Barbara Kruger are both female post-modern artists. While their works both reflect the world and contemporary issues, Hall’s work focused more on the themes of sexuality, colonialism and society’s relationship with nature, while Kruger’s work is more political and mainly centred around the theme of feminism. As post-modern contemporary artists, their work is all about challenging the idea of the

In the today’s society, it may appear that women’s rights have been propelled forward by equal opportunity sanctions. However, taking a more concise look at different spectrums, such as the art world, it appears that many women are still being snubbed despite their artistic abilities. In

The performance artist Ana Mendieta was a focal point of both the art scene and the feminist movement of the 1980’s. Even 30 years after her controversial death, there is a cult following of Mendieta. Her work, which sold for around $2,000 during her prime in the ‘80’s, has sold for as much as $200,000 in the present day. Her story, influences, message, and mysterious death have all contributed to her impact and fame.

Some women were recognized for their art skills. “One of the attractions women artists had… was their supposed ability to paint women and other ‘feminine’ themes better than men” (Bailey 109). Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was an extremely famous painter; she was the chief portraitist of Queen Marie-Antoinette. She also painted portraits for other famous people such as Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia, Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, and Prince Regent of England (Bailey 111). Her making of these portraits for these high ranking people shows how well she was recognized.

As a member of the artistic community something that has always bothered me is the usage of specific pronouns during artistic compliments. What do I mean by pronouns do you ask? I am talking about gender pronouns of course, specifically “girl, female, and lady.” Something that often occurs in art is statements like the following, which I addressed earlier in the proposal for this project: “she is a good girl drummer,” or “she is a great female guitarist.” (Zapari, 2016) Why do these superficial compliments exist? This paper will address that question as well as looking at Iranian women who work in art. To do this I will use a variety of scholarly and non scholarly articles that address those issues.