Male Artist Dominance Still Exists

Whether it be through painting, drawing, or sketching visuals, art is entailed in all of these activities. One thing that not many people may realize is that the amount of male artists over the years outweighs women, which is an issue that has been taken to heart.

Aline Mare, a woman who has been in the art world for the past 12 years and is an artist in the DTLA Area, was able to give her input on this topic. Mare touched upon the fact that she herself has personally faced issues with male dominance throughout her life, in that she "faced a lot of it early on in her early life but has overcome it."

Regardless of the challenges faced, she also pointed out several aspects that have contributed to her love for her work as well as the art world. These aspects have included "exploring change and transformation, layering and chemical psychological hit truce, hitting deep, and transforming materials." "To anyone who's not a male and is trying to make it in the art world, believe in yourself and keep working. Listen to what it's saying to you."

A 1971 essay titled "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" by Linda Nochlin was incorporated into Mare's interview. When asked what her take was on this article, Mare had responded with "Power dynamic is shifting for older women. The market is still driven by Male Artists and prices."

According to HyperAllergic Art Magazine, Nochlin's essay is "considered to be one of the first major works of feminist art history" and Maura Reilly described it as "a dramatic feminist rallying cry." The struggle with women artists is a problem that would make one want to learn more and DailyArt Magazine does not fail at this. Linda Nochlin specified in this source that "so far until 1971, the "natural" viewpoint in art history had been that of the white male. It is this intellectual dominion that should be put under the microscope. Feminists have been trying to prove that there have been great women artists and they had many examples. They also tried to prove that women artists have a different kind of “greatness,” implying that there is a feminine style in art, opposed to the masculine." DailyArt was also able to expand upon Nochlin's view, as it was mentioned from the source that Nochlin "suggests that it is due to the institutions and education that women artists haven’t been acknowledged." "For centuries, art academies forbade women students to study anatomy because they would have to paint nudes. The female nude body was already objectified for male students. However, a nude male model was a rare situation. And even then, there were rules that wouldn’t allow complete nudity, not even for the sake of studying."

Dr. Nathaniel Donahue, who is a Professor in SMC's art history department had many things to say on this topic. When asked who his idol role model is, Donahue had responded with Lorena Grady in that he "enjoys her sense of playfulness" through the work that she executed back in the early 1980's, including the Harlem Parade which occurred during the same time period. What was even more interesting was Donahue's take overall on the whole subject with male dominance, with his response being that it entails "Many aspects. As we talk about it today, this is a topic that is historically conditioned. There is a historic definition to what women had access to, what spaces they were allowed to be in, who would buy their work, and even up until today, there's still this huge gap. We as a society have to place value on this work of art. It is only around 10-20% of women artist's work that are being bought." When asked if there will come a point when the amount of women artists dominate over males, Donahue's response was “No.” In addition, Donahue had expressed his hope that folks, regardless of who they are, are able to get a chance to “shine/express themselves” if they have not been able to show off their talented artistic style. One might think about how this male dominance issue will affect young people who plan to become artists one day and Donahue was no stranger to this question, going so far as to say that it “will affect us as it did with me when I was younger. You have to be brave to face the issue and there will always be more work to do. I hope that this issue inspires us all to become activists and talk about it in anything that is art-related, whether it be in art classes, school, or even art exhibitions.”

Even though male dominance is still an issue in today's world, society has made tremendous progression in the struggle for women's equality and hopefully that same progression can also be applied to the world of women's art for years to come from now.