Researcher(s)
- Alyse Rut, Art, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- David Brinley, Art, University of Delaware
Abstract
Throughout the nineteenth century, women occupied a complex and often contradictory position within the art world. While they were frequently depicted as idealized subjects, they were simultaneously excluded from many of the institutions that shaped artistic careers, including formal education, academies, and exhibitions. These limitations, combined with gender expectations, significantly hampered the opportunities available to female artists and influenced the ways they engaged with their subjects.
Focusing on artists such as Mary Cassatt, whose works Lydia Reading and Reading Le Figaro offer alternative depictions of female identity, my research investigates how female artists responded to and challenged the constraints of the “male gaze.” Cassatt’s portrayals of women as thoughtful, intellectually engaged individuals with a sense of personal agency rejected traditional depictions of femininity as passive and decorative. Her work will be analyzed alongside artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Gustave Caillebotte, and Adélaïde Labille-Guiard to explore changing ideals of femininity.
My research culminated in the creation of an original painting inspired by Cassatt’s approach and developed through on-site reference photography at Rockwood Museum. A historic landmark in Newark, Delaware, Rockwood preserves and exhibits the domestic environment of upper-class family life from the turn of the twentieth century through World War I. During my visit, I utilized original furnishings, memorabilia, and props as photographic references for my model. The work I created focuses on portraying a contemporary woman within a historically informed setting, emphasizing themes of interiority, autonomy, and resistance to the external gaze.