The Female Nude
Women artists: female subjects
What happens when women paint women?
Is there any discernible difference between their work and the paintings produced by men?
If I were trying to make an over-simplified point, it would be easy to call on artist Jenny Saville.
Torso 2
2004
Mother and Children
2011
No-one would describe these images as idealisations of the female form. But neither do I read any negative messages in them. Some might say that they are refreshingly realist, and celebratory at that.
Some more ...
Nude Girl
Gwen John
1910
Self Portrait
Patricia Preece
1935?
In contrasting male and female treatments of the female nude, the artist Venetia Berry makes a telling point in ArtUK:
The male artists’ figures appear to be purely posing, solely there to be looked at. In my opinion, the female artists’ forms contain a greater deal of emotion and understanding of the female experience. They could all be self-portraits.
So, perhaps identification is the key.
Eventually, 'otherness' was going to appear.
When men paint women's bodies, they are exploring and re-presenting something essentially foreign to them. When women paint women's bodies, they are working with a subject which is far from 'other'.