Theories&MethodsPaigeHyatt

Philip Golub Reclining Sylvia Sleigh 1971 My first response while viewing this painting during this week's discussion showed my unconscious knowledge I have about nude paintings. The instant I saw this painting I thought it was a woman and the fact that it could be a man never crossed my mind. This proves that in society we have an idea of nudity and that immediately goes to women. Even though I am a woman, this is also where my mind goes immediately. This painting is also just stunning to look at. I love the color palette and details in the background and Philip's face. This week's reading, Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey discusses the types of characters women play in traditional film and what they mean for audiences. Women are seen as visual objects there for visual pleasure for the viewer. They are not the main character. They are often a love interest or something the man in the film saves then becomes the hero. The James Bond 007 franchise is a gr...

Pablo Picasso Marie Laurencin, 1908 In color (the text had the black and white version which I was unable to find online) The text this week "Why have there been no Great Women Artists" written by Linda Nochlin, a professor of art history at Vassar College discusses topics of women and their ongoing struggles in the art world. Society as a whole has placed women in a very specific box. They are quiet, stay in the home, and tend to the children. This prevented them from doing lots of things, but they had a very different experience compared to men in art institutions. They were not allowed to view nude models, therefore making drawing and painting of the human body difficult. Women were often only able to have opportunities to get into art schools or enroll in workshops if their father was an artist or if they were wealthy. These sad occurrences happened throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The question itself, "Why have there been no Great Women Artists" w...

Marcel Duchamp Fountain, 1917. https://magazine.artland.com/what-is-dadaism/ "From an alluring appearance or persuasive structure of sound the work of art of the Dadaists became an instrument of ballistics. It hit the spectator like a bullet, it happened to him, thus acquiring a tactile quality." -Walter Benjamin This art piece is not directly talked about by Benjamin, but the art movement Dadaism is mentioned, and this is one of the most famous from the time. It could also never be replicated with the same reactions from viewers, so I thought it was very important. This weeks reading was difficult, but compared to last week I really understood what the authors point was, or at least I think I did. Walter Benjamin was a German Jew in 1936 when he wrote this, so obviously he has a very different perspective on art than we do. The main idea that I took away from this article is that an original art piece will always be the most unique and cannot be replicated exactly. Benjamin ...