February 5, 2012

Gender difference.



You see it everywhere.

(Photo taken yesterday at the Chazen Museum in Madison.)

20 comments:

jungatheart said...

Where do similarities intersect?

DADvocate said...

Interesting. You'd think the guys might like looking at the painting of a pretty woman. I wonder who painted the two pictures. Is there a gender difference there?

I can't remember any female cubists, and other abstract artists. Looking at this list of the top 100 abstract painters, I only see a very small percentage of females. I don't know what the overall proportion of male to female artists is though, but it seems to be male dominated in general.

But, the photo is interesting. The guys pondering the geometric shapes and patterns while ignoring the painting of the woman.

Palladian said...

The portrait is by Alex Katz (a man).

The work in the background... Hard to say, maybe Frank Stella?

Calypso Facto said...

Was there on Thursday.....not realizing the new exhibit didn't open 'til Saturday. Ugh.

I dare you to post the third floor goats and get your site blacklisted from everyone's work computers. My observation at that piece was that straight men and women avoided it equally.

David said...

Slobs. You see them everywhere.

edutcher said...

Not much difference there. Can't tell the guys from the girls (if there are any).

A little longer hair and softer features on the picture of the girl in the foreground.

That's it.

David said...

Slobs. You see them everywhere.

Have to disagree.

A couple of generations ago, definitely. Men would go to a museum in a coat and tie, but the casual stuff they're wearing isn't dirty or in disrepair and seems of decent quality.

Bender said...

Number 1 -- this is Madison.

Number 2 -- the painting of the woman is not at all good; it is, at best, something done by an amateur that you might find for sale at a garage sale. (That is not to say that the abstract crap is any better, much less qualifying as "art.")

Now, put up some paintings of women done by some Renaissance artist, or any period prior to the 20th century, and you'll have crowds of people around it.

madAsHell said...

She looks like the heroine of a Disney movie.

dbp said...

I like the picture of the woman. Maybe the guys already looked at it and have moved on.

Given the angle and size, I could be wrong about the date, but it looks like 1927. If so, it may well be a bit ahead of its time, style-wise.

Skyler said...

The camera angle would hide anyone observing the painting of the woman.

Michael E. Lopez said...

She looks like Laura Flynn Boyle from Twin Peaks.

Wince said...

Michael E. Lopez said...
She looks like Laura Flynn Boyle from Twin Peaks.

I was thinking Tia Leone.

shiloh said...

A young Geena Davis ...

Wince said...

"WE LIVE IN A POLICE STATE!

"Ain't that the truth?

...Where have you been all my life?"

Chip Ahoy said...

I have something so acutely perceptive to add and on target to the subject but I trashed it for this.

John Cleese and Eleanor Bron cameo on Dr Who, critique the tardis as art.

pdug said...

" The idea of male and female are universal constants." - James T. Kirk

WV: mantim

deborah said...

Picard > Kirk when it comes to smarts lol.

Alex said...

There is a simple beauty in that picture that is missing these days from real life women.

Rosalyn C. said...

But if the figurative painting were of a female nude... another story. see: John Currin

Also, regarding the question of female abstract artists of international renown, add:
Joan Mitchell, Barbara Hepworth, Louise Nevelson, Louise Bourgeoise, Georgia O'Keefe, Judy Pfaff, Pat Steir, Rachael Whiteread

If you looked for a list of the top 100 realist artist you'd also find few female names. In 1971 Linda Nochlin, art historian, asked, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" Interesting essay from a Bryn Mawr College student Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? An Art Historical Question from a Neurobiological Perspective

Rosalyn C. said...

As I was falling asleep I suddenly thought of the artwork of Elizabeth Murray -- and Linda Benglis, both internationally known abstract artists. Add to that list of top 100 abstract artists.

Cheers!