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I want to focus on 19th century women as subjects and how they are different between male vs female artists. I want to show how women were portrayed differently as subjects in women’s perspectives as artists, versus how they were seen in the male gaze by male artists. I want to focus on how women had a completely different experience in painting vs men. Women challenged societal limitations and offered new perspectives. Women artists portrayed the lifestyles of women during this time and men emphasized the male gaze and sexualizing of women. The 19th century created a shift in the art world. As we know, men dominated the art world and portrayed women in a sexualizing way, degrading them as well objectifying them. Women drove the art world further straying away from traditional gender roles and creating different practices. Women were depicted as domestic representations but as artists, they challenged norms created by men and used their art to reshape boundaries of the art world that was once created for men.

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Mother and Child (The Oval Mirror), oil on canvas, 1899, Mary Cassatt

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Mother and Child (The Oval Mirror), oil on canvas, 1899, Mary Cassatt

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This painting emphasizes the connection between two figures through depicting a tender moment between a mother and her child. The soft brush strokes and light colors focus on capturing this sensitive experience. There is a sense of emotion in this along with the mother looking strong. This ties to the theme because it is a woman artist painting a domestic theme.

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Beatrice Ceni's Last Slumber, oil on canvas, 1859, Louis Lang

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Beatrice Ceni's Last Slumber, oil on canvas, 1859, Louis Lang

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This dramatic artwork represents a tragic event where Beatrice is seen dead in bed. Draped in a white dress with her hands in chains. She is portrayed passively as she lay deceased. Her body can be seen as an object of contemplation, she is a symbol rather than a subject. This ties to my theme because Beatrice is being symbolized rather than seen as a true subject. This scene can be visualized in the male gaze as Beatrice lay passively, she is positioned in an intentional way and serves male dominated cultural views of beauty.

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Odalisque, oil on canvas, 1825, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

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Odalisque, oil on canvas, 1825, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

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"Odalisque" is a female slave. This was painted as fantasy by a male painter. The slave is painted in the nude, and looking at the audience, inviting voyeurism. Her body is purposely painted distortedly to appeal an aesthetic taste to fulfill the fantasy of the male gaze. This painting fits my theme because of course, the artist is a man. He is depicting this woman objectively and to please the eyes of men.

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Winged Maiden with Putti (1814–1893) Louis Lang

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Winged Maiden with Putti (1814–1893) Louis Lang

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This work shows a nude woman with Putti which is looking up at her admirably. Both of the expressions on their faces are happy and uplifting. The winged child is also nude as he is looking up at the woman. This work is supposed to be more about eternal love. Again this falls into the category that men feel women are more sensitive and emotional. They are seen as more passive creatures. The woman is completely exposed from the waist up giving a more objectifying approach. The way she is positioned and the lack of covering makes me think she is as she is for aesthetic admiration of the male gaze.

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This work has a deep sense of discomfort within this painting. The woman's posture is tense, her back in hunched, and fingers are clenched. She is looking behind her mysteriously. The use of color in this work shows that there is little to no comfort around her from the use of bright to dark colors. The artist shows that the woman is seemingly trapped in her own mind. Even though this work isn't sexualizing the subject, it still fits with my theme because part of the male gaze is thinking women are weaker and more passive. The idea of the woman being trapped in her own mind is showing how women are sometimes viewed by men.

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Seville in Montmartre, oil on canvas, 1910, Alice Pike Barney

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Seville in Montmartre, oil on canvas, 1910, Alice Pike Barney

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This is meant to be a reflection of Barney's identity as a performer. The woman symbolizes romanticism and passion. The painting captures femininity which is meant to empower. With this work, Barney is trying to reclaim the female image from being objectified to feel more empowering. She uses bold color to further exemplify this idea and the woman has a smile on her face as she looks to her side. This ties into my theme because Barney, a female artist, who is empowering women through bringing a sense of power and beauty to them instead of objectify women and put them down.

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This explores contrasting the way the male artists follow the male gaze during this time period. Male artists had access to more spaces and opportunities than women had. Female artists were expected to conform to societal gender norms. Women’s art was overlooked and they navigated through these obstacles, even challenging norms of femininity and sexuality.

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Women as subjects from male painters, are painted to elicit sexual desire and are seen as objects in art for sex appeal. This reflects societal gender norms and power imbalances that were going on in the 1900s. Even straying away from nude art, women were still being sexualized through the painting of their bodies fitting some sort of societal theme. However, women as artists during this time painted domestically and painted women in beauty rather than portraying them as objects. Women were challenging these portrayals by reinterpreting female bodies and reclaiming ownership over their identity and image.