Female v. Male Paintings in 19th Century France

     Men and women worked as artists in nineteenth-century France, but they were not treated equally as artists during this time period. Women were barred from opportunities to study as the men studied, especially the inability to study the nude body, whether male or female. Female artists were also not getting as many big commissions as other male artists were which made their hunt for success even more difficult. In this exhibition, we are going to explore the differences between male and female artists in nineteenth-century France. This exhibition explores the different experiences of male and female artists in nineteenth-century France, paying attention to subject matter and process. Emerging female artists were unable to learn artistic skills like their male counterparts, they had to create their own art while being excluded from schools of art. They turned to animals and landscapes or even painted their lady friends in the confines of their own homes. Men got to study the nude body and implement the bodies in their pieces or even have the honor of traveling to homes to paint. This exhibition highlights the differences that male and female artists faced as they produced paintings as commissions or simply just for their own desires. 

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1852-55. Oil on canvas, 96 1/4 in. x 199 1/2 in. (244.5 cm x 506.7 cm), Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1887, Accession Number: 87.25

    The first painting in this exhibition is The Horse Fair curated by French female artist Rosa Bonheur. This painting is a composition of carefully created horses as they ride along the plain of the canvas adding texture and movement to the piece from their different heights and lengths. Bonheur chose to keep animals as her major subject of her compositions because she did not have a ton of skill or desire to paint accurate humans; nor did she have the opportunity to learn how to paint the human body in its rawest form. She would go to slaughterhouses and other places to obtain knowledge of animal anatomy. Female artists had to push themselves even further to be seen as equal to their male counterparts. Bonheur does this by being extremely skillful in painting animals.

Rosa Bonheur, Weaning the Calves, 1879. Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 32 in. (65.1 x 81.3), Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887, Accession Number: 87.15.109

    Another piece by Rosa Bonheur is Weaning the Calves. This piece also highlights her choice of animals instead of people. Bonheur believes that her decision to paint animals was because, in her eyes, they are innocent creatures with desires to break free of human bonds. Bonheur feels the same way. As a female artist in the nineteenth century, it is difficult to be equal with male artists. Since painting nude is seen as higher art, females supposedly would never reach that point, so they had to become excellent with the abilities they had without going to school for art. They had to supposedly be better than male artists to be recognized as equal to them.

Berthe Morisot, Young Woman Seated on a Sofa, 1879. Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 x 39 1/4 in. (80.6 x 99.7 cm), Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1992, Accession Number: 1992.103.2

    Another female artist who was successful in nineteenth-century France was Berthe Morisot. Her subject matter was impressionist portraits of females who are enjoying domestic life. Morisot painted domestic life, which is where she was restricted to. Her use of color and lights creates the composition to be calm and delicate. Her work was seen as very feminine. Traveling to public places to paint for women in the nineteenth century was frowned upon, so she had to truly enhance her skill of painting women in the domestic setting. Like private gardens where Morisot could easily set up her paint supplies and paint one of her friends. Morisot does her best to accurately portray the women that she paints but some things are off, like the subject may look flat, or even body parts simply appear from the dresses.

Berthe Morisot, The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935), 1870. Oil on canvas, 21 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. (54.6 x 67.3 cm), The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002, Accession Number: 2003.20.8

    A second art piece by Berthe Morisot is The Pink Dress. This is one of her early works where she did a portrait of Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes. Like the previously shown painting, Young Woman Seated on a Sofa, this piece also highlights the restrictions that female artists had to abide by. It is a painting of domestic life that is indoors instead of out in a garden. Along with different subject matter(animals), female artists also had to pave their own path by being stuck in private homes instead of public places. Female artists were still able to paint human subjects, but they were always clothed. It appears that they had more knowledge of painting what the women were wearing rather than considering what the woman looked like underneath her garments.

Edouard Manet, Fishing, ca. 1862-63. Oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 48 1/2 in. (76.8 x 123.2 cm), Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, 1957, Accession Number: 57.10

    After looking at female artists of nineteenth-century France, we have more insight into the greater opportunities that male artists had during this time. Edouard Manet is featured in this exhibition because he is a successful male artist but also because he chooses compositions of people in more public places. This painting in particular, Fishing, shows that men went out to public places to paint their subjects. Manet chooses to do a lot of landscape paintings while still incorporating his knowledge of the human body in his pieces. This piece is also a portrait of a soon-to-be-wed couple, the male and female in the bottom right corner. This painting shows that male artists had the greater ability to go out and paint and also get commissioned by well-known people to paint them.

Edouard Manet, The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil, 1874. Oil on canvas, 24 x 39 1/4 in. (61 x 99.7 cm), Bequest of Joan Whitney Payson, 1975, Accession Number: 1976.201.14

    Another piece by Manet is The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil. This piece accentuates the opportunities that male artists have. Female artists can get commissions, but it isn't that high of a percentage because they are restricted to being stuck in domestic life, there is a lesser chance that they could go out to more public places, or even other private settings to paint commission work; they had to follow the rules of women in society. This piece of the Monet family proves that male artists have more opportunities to do such a thing. Since Manet had the ability to study the nude figure, he can add form and shape to the family members in this composition, unlike the flatness that female artists unintentionally make their human subjects appear to be.

Gustave Courbet, The Young Bather, 1866. Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 38 1/4 in. (130.2 x 97.2 cm),  H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, Accession Number: 29.100.124

    A second male artist that is featured is Gustave Courbet. This male artist pays special attention to the nude female body. This pair of paintings is a subject matter that you may never see in female paintings. Females could easily paint nude children because mothers are always around those little nude bodies, but you will not see females paint nude women in more sensual poses in the public atmosphere. They needed to stay innocent. Courbet paints the entirety of the female nude, he paints every roll and crevice of the nude body. He emphasizes her by playing with the concept of space and scale. Male artists went to school where they were able to be in the same room as a woman who is nude so this woman in the painting is accurately painted because of the studying that Courbet was able to do.

Gustave Courbet, Woman with a Parrot, 1866. Oil on canvas, 51 x 77 in. (129.5 x 195.6 cm), H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, Accession Number: 29.100.57

    The last piece in this curation is also a Courbet painting named Woman with a Parrot. In addition to the last painting, this is also a subject of the nude. Courbet paints a woman who is posed in a lying down position much like Manet’s Olympia. This pose is filled with sensual emotions. The body is emphasized by the contrast between the dark background and the pale skin of the woman. Male artists, Courbet in particular, choose to have the subjects of their paintings be the majority female nude. This could be because they had the opportunity to study those particular bodies, or even because it makes them stand out as male artists. This painting is more masculine because of the pose of the woman and also the stark contrast between colors. Male artists were not denied the opportunity to study nude bodies, unlike female artists.

References:

Myers, Nicole. “Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France: Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, September 2008. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/19wa/hd_19wa.htm. 

Vaughan William. 1994. Romanticism and Art. London: Thames and Hudson.