How to Address Gender in the Modern Painting

How to Address Gender in the Modern Painting
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How to Address Gender in the Modern Painting
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, artists used their work to criticize and examine the relationship between gender and society. Around the 1960s and 1970s, the feminist movement gained momentum and artists began to challenge the role of a woman traditionally as well as working on issues such as conformist standards of beauty and domestic spheres. In the twentieth century artists such as Cassatt readdressed her art toward women taking care of children (Wolff, 2003). From a clear view of the portrait, the role of a woman is depicted out too similar to that of a prostitute or a female with no respect in the society. Like modernism, modernity is gendered male. According to her paintings, Cassatt reflected her affection towards her nephews and nieces as well as the prevailing cultural interest in childbearing (Wolff, 2003). In her impressionist work, Cassatt focused on the human character, mostly on a subtle yet impassively portrayals the attachment of women and children. In her painting, she worked on unusual devices such as outlined impudent patterns and cropped forms which served to emphasize on the nakedness of the child. The child held by a woman has white legs which are straightened similar to the striped lines on her dress. The painting is distinctively a modern scene that indicates an intricate emotional bond and a sensitive connection between a mother and a child which is often not common with males (Wolff, 2003).
However, the Manet’s painting, Luncheon on the grass portrays a picture of a nude woman in a modern setting in the company of fully dressed, conventional men (Manet.org, 2018). The absurdity suggested that females were not only viewed as idols, but rather viewed them as prostitutes or models. Additionally, the presence of a nude woman in the company of clothed men is justified by symbolic or mythical precedents. The cont...