Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

 Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

In the writing Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists, the author Linda Nochlin highlights the issues with women not being addressed in art history, the white western male view points presence in art history, feminine styles and auras of art. No women are referenced in ancient art history, only men like Michelangelo, very few women are referenced going into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and we even struggle with presenting female artworks alongside mens artworks in the twenty-first century. Linda explains how the white male western viewpoint dominates what is seen as intellectual or in the art world influences what is great art. She also explains subject matter should not be compared or associated with style and even more so not be compared with femininity or masculinity. 

The present day has acknowledged more female artists from the past and given them credit but they did not receive credit during their lifetimes very often. More male artists are documented throughout history, more male artists work in galleries than women and more white men are successful as artists than women and minorities. Linda Nochlin explains the overpowering prencences of men in art history as an intellectual delusion. The overpowering presence of man in art is an societal impression that is somewhat maintained although it is not rational or an accurate view of present art and art history. When Nochlin explains femine style, it is not formal like male art, it is often more expressive. Female art is also different from male art because females' experiences in society are different, their positions and situations in society are also different. This directly leads to another argument Nochlin makes that art is more than a translation of an individual's personal life into visual imagery; art of a specific individual also involves a “...self-consistent language of form…(pg 5).” By this Nochlin means an artist's stylistic choices are closely related to personal preference and defined conventions that have been learned but subject matter is not equated with stylistic choices. I think in some cases stylistic choices can contribute to the presented subject but technically Linda Nochlin is correct. Any subject does not demand a certain style and should not but one can use style to enhance the message, the emotional and the physical experience of the work. 

Marie Genevieve Brouliard’s Self Portrait, 1800, Oil Pastels (Page 15)

I chose to include Marie Brouliard’s self portrait because this is just an amazing piece of artwork. The contrast is strong showing us her bone structure and the folds in her clothes. There is a minimal and soft color palette that works very well. This piece is also extremely life-like, there is a wonderful shadow under the eyelid, and accurate proportion at the three quarter view. Not only is this artwork amazingly executed and realistic, it also shows women can practice the traditional techniques of art just as well as men. It shows women do create great art that should be equally appreciated. This work utilizes many principles of design and displays them well. This piece is also a testament to Nochlin's idea that subjects should not be confined by stylistic choices. I think if Brouillard used whatever medium and painted on whatever material this self portrait would be just as strong because she can utilize the principles and elements of design well. 

Nochlin, Linda. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?. Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power and Powerlessness. ArtNews. 1971. Accessed 20 September 2021.