Olympia, painted in 1863 by Edouard Manet, and The Coiffure, which Mary Cassatt created in 1891, illustrate inequalities in class and gender. As art used to be considered a field only for men, the male gaze was and is very commonly found in art. Male gaze is when a female subject is seen through the view of a man and often seems objectified. Manet, in Olympia, and Cassatt, in most of her work, either invert the gaze or work to entirely remove it. In addition to showing women in a more positive light, these artists also painted people of a low class in a non-derogatory way.
Manet’s Olympia uses a classic reclining nude in an innovative way and gives the image new meaning. The main subject is a woman laying centrally in the painting. Behind her …show more content…
The Coiffure by Cassatt depicts a woman in this casual way but also shows the convergence of culturally different art and globalization. When Japan was opened to the west, Japanese art became very popular and coveted. Ukio-e woodblock prints depicting single moments of the upper class were especially popular and inspired Cassatt. The use of color and form in The Coiffure is commonly found in Japanese art. The Coiffure depicts a working class woman who has just finished bathing and is doing her hair for her day but from a woman’s perspective. While the art world was mainly dominated by men for centuries, depictions of women often are very sexualized. Instead of flipping gaze like many feminist artists, Cassatt simply shows a woman in an everyday activity and from a relaxingly realistic …show more content…
By creating their own styles and aesthetics, Manet and Cassatt contribute to the general movement of art toward a more interpretive and unique style. Manet’s flattening of space challenged the ideas of art in the 1860s and was criticized for it. Cassatt also employed a flattening of her art as well however in a different way. By using a traditional Japanese style previously unknown to the west, The Coiffure experiments with taking traditional art and transforming it into something modern and creating new meaning for
Manet’s Olympia uses a classic reclining nude in an innovative way and gives the image new meaning. The main subject is a woman laying centrally in the painting. Behind her …show more content…
The Coiffure by Cassatt depicts a woman in this casual way but also shows the convergence of culturally different art and globalization. When Japan was opened to the west, Japanese art became very popular and coveted. Ukio-e woodblock prints depicting single moments of the upper class were especially popular and inspired Cassatt. The use of color and form in The Coiffure is commonly found in Japanese art. The Coiffure depicts a working class woman who has just finished bathing and is doing her hair for her day but from a woman’s perspective. While the art world was mainly dominated by men for centuries, depictions of women often are very sexualized. Instead of flipping gaze like many feminist artists, Cassatt simply shows a woman in an everyday activity and from a relaxingly realistic …show more content…
By creating their own styles and aesthetics, Manet and Cassatt contribute to the general movement of art toward a more interpretive and unique style. Manet’s flattening of space challenged the ideas of art in the 1860s and was criticized for it. Cassatt also employed a flattening of her art as well however in a different way. By using a traditional Japanese style previously unknown to the west, The Coiffure experiments with taking traditional art and transforming it into something modern and creating new meaning for