Commenting on the work of Berthe Morisot, Edouard Manet said “This woman's work is exceptional. Too bad she's not a man.”
Although this was in the 19th century and now we are into the 21st, it still makes a woman artist stop and think. Fortunately, all my painting life, this thought has never taken root. I believe if you don’t acknowledge such a strange idea, then it can’t be true. And it seems it is less true now. This way of thinking, thankfully, has much less power than it did even a few years ago.
I’ve always loved Manet’s paintings. I still do, whatever he thought about Morisot being a woman. What I love about Manet’s work is its strength, it’s directness. These may be masculine qualities, but not qualities owned by men. Monet’s paintings are soft and gentle, feminine qualities. But also not qualities owned by women. So the only thing for an artist to do is to follow his or her heart—paint what has significance to them. To me, integrity is the most important ingredient in good art.
Sad to say this attitude has continued into more recent times. The following is a quote from a 1947 review of an exhibit of the very strong, powerful, and, some might say, masculine sculptures of Louise Nevelson:
"We learned the artist is a woman in time to check our enthusiasm. Had it been otherwise we might have hailed these sculptural expressions as by a great figure among the moderns."
Posted by: Leslie Zemenek at June 11, 2008 01:04 PMThis is definitely sad to see. At least by the '60s when I saw her work in museum collections Nevelson was taken seriously so there seems to be progress.
Posted by: Leya at June 11, 2008 09:18 PM