Introduction
The art world recognizes timeless works of art that immortalized the famous great masters of all time such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and among others. However, in a world of art dominated by men, few women made their mark until the modern arts movement paved the way for the emergence of women in art. The discussion will critique an exhibit featuring the works of female artists in the National Museum of Women in the Arts entitled “Salon Style”. In addition, the discussion will also determine the objectives behind the exhibition including identification of the issues revolving around the representation of the female artists in the exhibit. Furthermore, the discussion will also highlight the assumptions made by the curator concerning how the exhibit was interpreted. Most importantly, exhibited collection will be analyzed for the general perspectives about the collection including the weaknesses and strengths.
About the Exhibit
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a gender specific museum located in New York Ave. in Washington D.C. Female artists dedicated the museum to celebrating the notable achievements of women in the field of arts exhibiting the works of both the old and contemporary pieces. During the visit, there were two collections currently being exhibited the “She Who Tells a Story” featuring the work of contemporary female artists and the “Salon Style” features the works of the two old female masters. I was compelled to explore the latter exhibit, which goes on January 29 to May 22, 2016. The reason for selecting the salon style exhibit is know more about the old female masters that the public are not aware of in today’s modern arts movement.
Purpose
The purpose of the collection is to exhibit the works of Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun and Adelaide Labille-Guiard who made history when they were both admitted to the biennial Salon of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris, which is regarded as a premier venue for the artists in the 18th century. The era in which the two female artists emerged as one of the great masters in France is time in which male European masters dominate the field of arts. By placing the works of the two female artists in the public sphere, it challenges the societal expectation that women belong in the domestic and private sphere. Furthermore, the collection reminds the contemporary female artists that they can have an inspiration for great accomplishments in arts.
A Question about the Female Representation in the Exhibit
The collection was placed in the Teresa Lozano Long Gallery arranged in groups according to the artist. Looking at the collection, there is particular question that comes up and that is why the paintings are conveying a common theme although different artists created them. This observation can be noticed in the way the pictures were painted showing female subjects in a head only figure and in the same side view angles. The question here is despite the artistic skills, why would the artists choose to point the subjects in the same fashion.
Assumptions
Given the question raised earlier, the curator gave a brief assumption that the similarities in the theme and artistic style among the collection is because the artists are following the Salon style, which is a prominent theme in most of the 18th century artwork, which depicts a gathering (Rosenfed). However, such assumption is rather not convincing considering that the idea of a Salon painting is to show a gathering of people within a single picture. Afterwards, it became apparent why the collection was called the salon; it is because the collection of the paintings with individual subjects in one gallery can be interpreted as the gallery being the salon and not the individual paintings.
Implications and Consequences
After analyzing the context of the collection as the Salon or the gathering of women art subjects in a single place, it can be concluded that the exhibit emphasizes the idea that women in the artwork represents the artists themselves and the gathering of their work in a single exhibit conveys their artistic legacies. The perceived weakness of the collection is the lack of variation on the themes of the artworks. However, the collection encompasses strength in expressing the feminist ideology, which is consistent among the artworks of the featured artists.
Information about the Collection
Primarily, the collection was called The Salon and the term was derived from the biennial Salon of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris France in which the artists on exhibit Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun and Adelaide Labille-Guiard were admitted as the only four females accepted in the academy (NMWA). The same term was given to artistic style in painting depicting a gathering of people in a single picture also termed as Salon (Rosenfed). The perceived opinion regarding the theme of the collection as Salon although each work is a portrait was based on the two aforementioned ideas about the salon in which the exhibit itself is a salon of female portraits. The information found about the paintings, the artists, and their training in the arts encompasses the impression and assumption made about the collection.
Concepts
The concept conveyed by the collection can be attributed to a gathering of works of female artist who are able achieve considerable success in a discipline dominated by men. The main idea in the collection is to showcase how female artists can accomplish works of art that rivals their male counterpart. This idea was highlighted through the concept of the exhibit as a whole, but looking individually at the portraits conveys the individuality demonstrated by the artists in their work.
Conclusion and Interpretation
In general, the methodologies employed in creating the collection can be attributed to the concept of technical art history in which the understanding of the particular work of the artist can be based on the historical context of the exhibited works (Trentelman). Research in arts collection as the name implies refers to the study of the art collection that involves the heritage of the exhibited collection. In the case of the Salon collection exhibiting the work of the female artists, the aforementioned methodology provides a perceptive understanding of the relationship between the pieces in the collection and how the entire collection itself conveys its historical meaning behind. In this case, the Salon exhibit encompasses the historical achievement of the female artists.
Points of View
The curator’s point of view regarding the collection pertains to the emphasis given to the collective achievement of the female artists in the field of fine arts. This point of view was embraced through the choices of the art pieces placed in the collection. The general perception of the collection does not immediately lend an observation that is consistent to all audiences. The collection lends itself to various lines of reasoning in which the arrangement of the exhibit can be perceived as a showcase of female artistic talent, yet for some, the collection was perceived to have a much deeper meaning.
Decision-Making
Looking back at the experience viewing the exhibit of the Salon collection. It is apparent that there is no other way of presenting the idea of Salon as a gathering of women in arts, which to that extent do not need further changes. I agree on the way the collection was presented because it represents the context of Salon. For example, the featured artists are women, the title of the collection is Salon, which in colloquial terms refer to a place women gathers and with the gathering of the works of female artists, the context of the Salon was well represented. In addition, the collection features all female subjects on the painting and despite the fact that collection is made up of portraits; the gathering of the female portraits also represents the context implied by the Salon theme.
Works Cited
NMWA,. "Salon Style | National Museum Of Women In The Arts". Nmwa.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
Rosenfeld, Jason. "The Salon And The Royal Academy In The Nineteenth Century | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline Of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum Of Art". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. N.p., 2004. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
Trentelman, Karen. "Newsletter 25.1 Spring 2010". Getty.edu. N.p., 2004. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
