Both articles overwhelmingly support the theory that gender is related to the formal components and artistic choices that artists make. They each also went beyond this theory to suggest that gender also affects the way art is viewed and accredited by the audience. Brand and Korsmeyer suggest that the view of a stereotypical successful artist has already been ingrained into the minds of the audience when they say “…the value of art is linked with the special mind of artists, and thus these theories give rise to a picture of the artistic Genius, a figure deeply inflected with masculine properties both historically and conceptually” (p.6). This comment implies that our culture is less comfortable with an artist who doesn’t fit historical norms. The “artistic Genius” that Brand refers to is based off tradition – in other words, if the artist isn’t traditionally male, the audience might subconsciously be less inclined to appreciate the art that they automatically link to the responsible artist.
Brand and Korsmeyer adopt an additional perspective when they suggest that, “…the state of aesthetic contemplation is a principal instance of intrinsic value; it takes one out of one’s own self-concerns and peculiarities and into a state of mind that may be shared by any other human being” (p. 7). If this argument is true, then it might be difficult for females and males to easily flow into that “shared state of mind” because both genders encompass such different biological and chemical make-ups. An example where that problem might arise is when a male examines Gray Line with Black, Blue and Yellow by Georgia O’Keeffe. Two bodies, standing tailbone to tailbone surround a dark area. Those bodies are pale, smooth, and delicate. The painting’s dark, central area resembles that of a vagina and also a bloomed flower. The link between flowers and vaginas suggest the delicate beauty that vaginas evoke. If a flower has not yet bloomed, its beauty cannot be recognized, and the same is also true for a woman. A woman cannot be considered beautiful until she has experienced puberty and embraced the changes and beauty of her body. The image becomes increasingly dark as you look towards the center suggesting the mystery of a woman’s insides. Man and woman would view this piece in a different light simply because women experience less mystery when it comes to the female vulva, naturally. This is where taking one “out of one’s own self-concerns and peculiarities and into a state of mind…shared by any other human being” might become complicated due to gender roles. Another picture depicting the mystery of the female vulva is Three Apples. Just as O'Keeffe's painting establishes the dark area as the mysterious area of the female vagina, it also relates the vagina to nature using the apples.
Georgia O'Keeffe, Gray Line with Black, Blue and Yellow, c. 1923
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Yan Ming-Huy, Three Apples
Mary Devereaux takes the same approach to how gender relates to the formal and artistic components that artists choose. She uses a very simplified explanation to show how gender plays a role with the audience and the artist: the male gaze. “ [It] refers to a way of seeing that takes women as its object. In this broad sense, the gaze is male whenever it directs itself at, and takes pleasure in, women, where women function as erotic objects” (p.1). In this next piece, a woman stands posed with a backless wrap that is slipping down her body. Her hair is pulled up with both hands. In this picture, the woman exists to the “male gaze” as an erotic object. She suggests beauty at its highest. This painting might oppress women because it idealizes one type of beautiful that was famous during the Renaissance period. It contributes to those movements where women are expected to be one type of gorgeous, and not gorgeous in their own right. The woman’s face is not even depicted, but instead only the part that might appeal to a male figure is shared. The female goes to the extent of perhaps being even enticing to the male viewer; she is painted to suggest a certain sexual tension or inspiration.
Pino, Dressing Table
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