ARTH 12A Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Trophy Wife, Binoculars, Nanny
2 May 2018
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May 2, 2018
“Modernism and Gender” Notes
Reactions/Questions
•
Pollack’s Reading
• Public = men, government, leisure, money (modern, city showcase)
• Private = women with children staying home (domestic space)
Modern Paintings on Gender
• Women watching opera painting = in box with woman
o Man leaning out of box to look at women with binoculars
o Man can’t see much because woman’s arm is up to block body
o Artist very articulate in choosing gaze
• Couple watching opera = floating/from someone looking at couple through
binoculars, outside box but super close to couple
o Trophy wife or mistress b/c of jewelry and nice clothing
• Introduction to scholarship during period & prior to this article, most people
did not take women impressionist works seriously
o Painted start of representation for women and women artists during
this time (gender dynamics of time)
o Experience of being female is being documented through these
paintings
▪ Modern day office AC set to be comfortable for middle age
man in suit, car seats, chairs, and tables all made for men
height
• The Bath by Mary Cassatt
o Cassatt doesn’t have kids, wants to direct all energy towards artists
o Women in social class could often pay for nanny
o Shows Cassatt’s material instinct
o Has access to models b/c they’re her servants or family – not paid like
Olympia because not respectable/fallen women women were
limited to which bodies that had access to for subject matter
• The Harbor of Lorient by Morisot
o Lots of space, women sitting away from city
Today we talked about the different gazes and how gender was represented differently in paintings.
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