Following up the previous post on paintings of women reading, I wanted to highlight some works that subvert the male gaze present in this genre.
Anonymity
Whether its by objects, shadows or their pose, by making the female subject anonymous, the focus is not on they’re appearance, but rather on their action. Whilst some examples can be seen in paintings that cater more to the male gaze, their purpose differentiates them. In these examples the purpose of the female subject’s semi or full anonymity is to make the scene appear natural, as if you were glancing over at them, rather than to reduce the figure to simply a body in the eye of the male gaze.
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As not the focus on the painting
Not only is the female subject treated with a degree of anonymity here, with the lamp light, but also she is placed in the lower right hand area of the piece, whilst the rest of the composition is dominated by the window. Not only does its size in relation to here draw the viewer’s eye, but it also stands out in its blue colour, cool toned compared to the rest of the piece. What would be a rosy domestic scene has an unnerving atmosphere.
The female gaze
Cassatt’s works exemplify the female gaze. Through placing female figures both in and outside of the domestic setting, she presents the life of Victorian middle class women from their own perspective. Reading is presented by Cassatt as an activity for women and their family, and for themselves. This is in opposition to the paintings in the prior post where the hobby was depicted as an act for the presumed male viewer, here it is for themselves.
A Quick message: I hope you enjoyed today’s post! I’ll now be following a slightly different posting schedule, still every 2 weeks, of alternating between one longer post and one shorter. This is just to keep me accountable with posting and to explore ideas that may no require longer-form essays.
Have a good day (●'◡'●)
Questions:
Do you know of any paintings which present women’s hobbies, distinct from the male gaze?
To what extent do you think that changing ideas about gender influenced the place of women in art as both subject or painter?
And,
What is your favourite painting of a woman reading and why?
Further reading and resources used:
Currently reading: The Exclamation Mark by Anton Chekhov
Random recommendation: Invisibilia podcast