Week 4: Why Are There No Great Women Artists?

    

Self-portrait (1554) by Sofonisba Anguissola

    When I read the title of this week's reading, I have to admit I was very disappointed. I thought, "How sexist to say that there are no great women artists", but when I tried to think of women artists that are on par with the greats like Van Gogh, Monet, or Picasso, I could not think of any. Why is that? I know that women are just as capable as men at creating brilliant works of art, but why don't any come to mind? Linda Nochlin, a professor of art history at Vassar College, wrote Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? in which she states that the reason we don't know of any great women artists is because we accept the white western male viewpoint. According to Nochlin, in the past, men have "scientifically" proven that people with wombs cannot create anything of significance like people with penises. This is obviously very incorrect, but I have to admit I would love to hear how they performed this "experiment". 

    One of my favorite artists is Sofonisba Anguissola who paints such beautiful portraits, including self-portraits of herself painting a self-portrait of herself which in my opinion is very unique. Unfortunately, I can never remember her name without a Google search because her name wasn't beat into our brains like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Rembrandt. The question that we should really be asking is, "Why did art historians not properly document artwork by women throughout the years?" It is obvious that art history books favor the work of men. 

    There have also been no great artists from aristocracy despite the fact that aristocrats would have the time and the financial means to become artists. I believe this is because aristocrats usually could not be bothered with the arts. For example, painting back then was more of a job than a hobby. People would pass down their knowledge of painting to their children as well, and it is not likely that an aristocrat would have a parent teach them a trade like painting. Most artwork done by the great artists have been commissioned by others to be made. For example, the Medici family has been referred to as the Godfathers of the Renaissance because they commissioned a vast amount of artwork in that period. They supported artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, and Filippo Brunelleschi.

    Women have faced more obstacles than men have in the art field (and pretty much every other field) because women were not allowed to properly attend art institutions, figure drawing classes, residencies, or apprenticeships unless they were the models. They even had to had to be accompanied by another woman whenever they went to a workshop to pose for an artist. Every time I think about this topic, I think about the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous group of feminist artists that are fighting sexism and racism in the art world. They create brilliant posters that catch the viewers eye and also educate them about injustices in the art community. 

Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? (1989) Guerrilla Girls

 

   Works Cited

Attewell, Chrisél. “Sofonisba Anguissola - the Legendary Female Renaissance Painter.” Art In Context, 28 July 2023, artincontext.org/sofonisba-anguissola/.

Collector, The. “How Did the Medici Family Support the Arts?” The Collector, 21 Sept. 2023, www.thecollector.com/how-did-medici-family-support-the-arts/.

No        Nochlin, Linda. “From 1971: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” ARTnews, 30 May 2015, www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/.

Tate. “‘Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?’, Guerrilla Girls, 1989.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1989, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the-met-museum-p78793.