Women Artists: Unrecognized, Undervalued & Obfuscated - Essay Sample

Introduction

Women artists have been responsible for making some arts throughout history in western society. But, their work in comparison with that of male counterparts has been overlooked, undervalued, and sometimes obfuscated. Many women arts have been attributed wrongly to men artists, and the prevailed stereotypes concerning the sexes have resulted to specific media like fiber arts or textile to be associated with women artists, despite being involved in ceramic art.

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The earliest western cultures record rarely mention certain people, although some women are depicted many artistic works where some of them are illustrated laboring as artists. Various ancient references discuss prominent general roles played by women in music, poetry, textile, and many other cultural activities, but it fails to mention specific individual artists (Broude, 2018). There are many women artists in western society from the medieval period to Renaissance who contributed a lot to western culture through their artistic work. In the 12th century, there was a rise in trade, education, and travel, and such changes in society led to changes in the lives of women who got the opportunity to be part of artisan guilds. It was during Renaissance where in the western history, women artist became recognized internationally; the changes are attributed to large shifts in the western culture which came from the idea of counter-reformation that reacted against the element of Protestantism and gave rise to humanism which affirmed for the dignity of all individuals of every gender.

The paper presents three women figures in different periods. The figures are the Hildegard of Bingen of medieval times or middle ages, Sofonisba Anguissola of Renaissance, and Adelaide Labille-Guiard of the 18th century. Then it examines how society has affected the creativity of women through focusing specifically on how women's creativity is affected by their prescribed gender roles, and it outlines the images that defined women through looking at the roles and images that were acceptable. The impact of class, ethnicity, and race on the creativity of women is also analyzed.

Notable Women Artists of Different Periods

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a creative woman as her prolific contributions surpassed her theological dedication to include music, art, medicine, and natural science. Her work in the visionary theology and natural world contributed a lot to the advancement of medicine and theology in western society, which earned her sainthood in the year 2012 (Gaze, 2013). She was a German Benedictine abbess, a philosopher, polymath, composer, writer, and visionary of the medieval period between 1098-1179. Her chants are still surviving compared to any other composer of the Middle Ages who wrote both words and music. Throughout her monastic life, she produced several volumes of music and other works as she composed 77 different works of music, which includes a Play of the Virtues, which is a morality musical play which is considered to be the oldest surviving liturgical dram and morality play (Gaze, 2013).

Hildegard creations in the western society filled the chambers of Abbey in about 650 years before the Beethoven, a time when the high standard was attached to the composition itself. When women were not expected to have such talents, she had a rare composition that surprised her contemporaries. She was unmatched until the Renaissance that was 300 years later (Gaze, 2013). Her work and reputation reached far as Paris, and it influenced Master Leoninus of Notre-Dame to establish the school of polyphony, which was the first of its kind and its combined melody in a single verse. The inspiration for her music comes from the use of natural sounds of individuals passing playfully in their surroundings and the use of Gregorian chant qualities. Hildegard's belief in the creative power inspired a lifestyle that is focused on inner freedom was, according to her, was expressed through music.

Various modern musicians in western society have rediscovered the art of Hildegard, especially her music in a contemporary setting. They have created a colorful synthesis by taking the creativity of Hildegard and add experimental sounds together with modern arrangements where several musicians sought to preserve the work of Hildegard in the music industry.

In the Renaissance, despite various challenges experienced by women, some notable female artists managed to overcome the cultural and social limitations of their time. The best woman artist of this period who was recognized internationally because of her contribution to art history was Sofonisba Anguissola (1535-1625). She was very creative and was able to create sophisticated and life-like portraits that were flattering and intellectually engaging at the same time. She utilized self-portraits to define and promote herself (Robin, 2013). Then she turned the artistic skill she possessed to creating official portraits of the royal house of Spain that were aimed to advertise the ability of the Spanish royal family to rule. Anguissola was described at her time as a marvel of nature and art, which catapulted her to fame internationally.

Her work never threatened the cultural norms that ware present at the period concerning what women could or could not do. She managed to change the cultural belief of the role played by women in western society as her work endeared her to the Italian and Spanish nobility. Anguissola managed to turn cultural limitations to gain an advantage, and all her actions surpassed expectations, which made her the most famous portraitist of her age. Anguissola made a lot of accomplishments. She became a well-known portrait at a period when female painters were very few or rare, which represents a shift in the western culture on artistic work. Anguissola, together with her sisters who worked together, became the ground-breaking example of the achievement of women in arts.

The other figure is Adelaide Labille-Guiard (1749-1803), who was of the 18th century. She was a successful portraitist of her time in her own right (Gaze, 2013). Labille-Guiard and other female artists of the same century who worked at the same time threatened male artists to a large extend, and many males were inventing rivalry for them. They spread rumors alluding the females to sexual misconduct. She was a strong female artist who kept fighting for her rights, a woman to create art, and support other females who were exploring the field of the artist. Labille-Guiard managed to prove that her critics were wrong, which made her be admitted to the Royal Academy. In this place, she excelled her artistic work and became a painter of the ladies, which meant that Labille-Guiard was a painter to the king's aunts. She was surely an artistic woman advocate who wanted other women who aspire to be artists to be recognized in western society and receive the same opportunities that men received. The opportunity she got to become the first female member of the Royal Academy; was the first woman too to be granted the opportunity to get permission to establish a studio for her students at the Louvre.

Labille-Guiard was an icon for cultural change in western society because of her enormous accomplishments of being the first to take professional artistic studies in the Royal Academy and to set her own and her student's studio. In her work, she incorporated recent fashions into her various paintings, which allowed her to showcase her ability to be the best artist. When portraying women, she drew them with a low neckline or with the face directly at the viewer, which was a very rare practice in the eighteenth century while portraying women images. Through the studio she built, she passed her knowledge of art to various students, and in this way, she advocated for young female artists.

Impact of Society on the Lives and Creativity of Women Artists

In the western world, women had far fewer artistic opportunities compared to men as gender roles played a big role in artistic work. Women had limited opportunities for attending formal artistic education and becoming artists. They were not allowed to draw their arts from the nude in their art classes; the norm persistent through several centuries until the 19th century when changes started happening (Gaze, 2013). Women got an opportunity in the seventh and eighteenth century in theatre to made their way to a European Stage to perform their parts in a selection dominated by playwrights who are male who stages male protagonists.

The gender roles that were present in the western society impacted the work of female artists negatively because the artists faced a lot of challenges because of gender biases, from challenges in receiving good artistic training to gaining fame and selling their creativity. The western mythology tells that the first artist was a woman, but its successors never received important attention. From the middle ages onwards, few women found their way into tales concerning the greatest artists in society. Even then, the female artists were described as unusually talented women who have succeeded in overcoming posed on their gender to excel in a field that was believed to be masculine.

Many societal obstacles blocked most women who wished to be an artist. Some were blocked by the training they receive that involved the study of the nude male form and dissection of cadavers (Stuard, 2012). The system of apprenticeship meant that a woman who aspires to be an artist should live with an older artist for about four to five years, making it nearly impossible for several women to follow the artistic path as other expected duties took precedent.

In the Renaissance at the time of Sofonisba Anguissola, women were not allowed to purchase their paints; thus, they relied on male relatives to obtain women paints. In this error, women's contributions in the western culture through art were neglected, and spectators of female artists saw less that is representative of their female artist's daily lie and intimate experiences. In this period, society segregated women from men by referring them as female artists of which such title was used to long. The divide between men and women in the art industry when the creation of art itself was categorized by gender difference as women artists were seen as inferior, and society never allowed them to explore the art industry fully.

The creativity of the female artists in all the periods like that of Hildegard of Bingen, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Adelaide Labille-Guiard was affected by their attitudes toward their physicality and body. Women, through ages, were being defined as the creation of one another. Most women artists internalize the point of view that the female body has been an aesthetic object, and they feel the object of another's desire and gaze. More so, as a social impact, women throughout the history of art have been represented in different forms. The representations are essential as they responded to the interests and needs that were relevant to the western culture at different centuries. The representations illustrate the status of women in society from the middle ages to the current century, by showing how society was portraying the image of a female person and how they affected the female artists.

Women in early arts were represented with many curves as important symbols of fertility. In the middle ages, women characters often tend to be represented in arts in a polarized manner as either bad or good, respectable or fallen, idealized or erotic, saint or sinner. Women images mostly illustrate them as religious and mothers who are still virgins, and good women were drawn attending to their families or doing household chores. The images that show female artists mostly drew good women alw...