TweetAn investigation into this subject would necessitate an interdisciplinary team, analysing not only the iconography and iconology of the artworks, but also the socio-cultural background of the artists and their customers or patrons, and the market-related aspects. Why did they create art with this motif? Did they create an original composition or were they inspired by work of their male-colleagues in the same period?
These questions are much beyond my qualification and I do not know if the subject was ever treated. I consulted 'Manifestations of Venus', the excellent monograph by 9 women contributors (1).
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| Niki de SAINT-PHALLE: Vénus de Milo (1962) |
Only one picture depicting Venus by a woman artist is shown in this book: Niki de SAINT-PHALLE's 'Venus de Milo' shot in a New York theatrical performance in 1962, and none of the other women artists, listed below, are discussed. The closest to my subject comes Shulamith Behr in Chapter 7 'Veiling Venus: gender and painterly abstraction in early German modernism' where she writes <(....), moreover, raises the problem of gendered authorship in depicting the eroticised female nude - paradigmatically the figure of Venus within an academic tradition. However, this chapter follows a less familiar path... > (p.128). She then discusses the work and psychology of Marianne WEREFKIN, an expatriate Russian artist who was part of the KANDINSKY's New Artists' Association of Munich in the early 20th century.
The following remarks are important for interpretation of these figures:
1° the compilation of artworks and artists in my Topical Catalogues is very much biased by the information sources available: any additional information or corrections are always most welcome!
2° the advent of Internet brings numerous art galleries on your screen, many artists promote their work directly with their own website and thus enhances the chance that women artists depicting Venus are known; this trend clearly continues in the first decade of the 21st century (see the list below).
Anyhow, the list shows that French women artists have been more frequently inspired by the motif of Aphrodite/Venus than their counterparts in Italy or the Low Countries, even more nowadays than in the past. Food for psychologists/sociologists?
'Women Artists who depicted Aphrodite/Venus (II)' with the lists and time distribution of 93 women artists, born or educated in Germany, Switzerland and Central-Europe.
Lists of women artists from Italy, France
and the Low Countries
who depicted Aphrodite/ Venus,
and the Low Countries
who depicted Aphrodite/ Venus,
extracted from the Topical Catalogues
b.=place and date of birth; a.= estimated date of activity; d.=place -if different of birth-place- and date of death; c=approximate; followed by the number of works compiled in the catalogue.
Italian Women Artists |
| Lavinia FONTANA: Vénus et Cupidon (1592) |
ANCILOTTI, Claudia/b. ?- a.2007-/1
CARRIERA, Rosalba/b.Venezia 1675-d.1757/1
FONTANA, Lavinia/b.Bologna 1552-d.Roma 1614/3
FORMICA, Claudia/b. Nizza Monferrata ?-c1975 ?-/1
GENTILESCHI, Artemisia/b.Roma 1593-d.Napoli c1652/1
GIULIANO, Anna/b.Torino ?-c1977-/1
PAGANO, Luisa/b. Voghera 1895-d. ?/1
RASOLA, Maria/b. Roma ?-c1995-/1
SCULTORI, Diana, detto MANTOVANA/b. Mantova 1547-d.Roma 1612/1
SIRANI, Elisabetta/b.1638-d.1665/2
French Women Artists
ATEK, Anne-Sophie/b.Rouen 1972-/3/
BACHELET, Carine/b.? Paris-a.2004/1
BALLIVET, Suzanne Émilie Pauline/b.Paris 1904- d.1985/4
BASTELICA, Marie-France, Laetitia & Martine/b.? Grasse-a.2000-/1
BOUCOIRAN, Numa/b. Nîmes 1805-d.1869/1
BOUNIEU, Emilie/b.1785-d.?/1
BUGGIA, Bernadette/b.1955 Grenoble-/1
CAZIN, Marie/b.Palmboeuf 1845-d.1924/1
CHAVANNE, Marie-Noëlle/b.?-a.c2007-/1
CHÉRON, Elisabeth Sophie/b.1648-d.1711/1
CHIFFOT, Sonia/b.1973-/3
CHOPIN, Caroline/b.1970 Lille-/1
COGNE, Brigitte/b.?-a.2006/2
COOL, Delphine de (Arnould de Cool, Fortin)/b.?-a.1872-d.?/1
COSTER Anne, née Vallayer/b.1744-1818/1
DARMET, Chantal/b. Agadir 1952 -/4
DEFFOREY, Cécile/b.?-a.1976-/2
DELAPLACE, Anne-Valérie, dit ANNE-VALERIE/b.?-a.2006/1
DELAUNAY, Gine-Louise/b.?-a.2002-/1
DUHAMEL, Virginie/b.Paris 1971-/1
FOYE, Elizabeth/b.Rouen 1965-/1
GRISON, Marguerite/b.? Paris-a.1891-d.?/1
HENRY, Haïdée/b.1978 Nimes-/1
JANET, Janine/b.1913-d.2000/2
LEGRAND, Marie-Pierre/b.1948-/2
LESUEUR, Catherine/b. Paris 1955-/1
LINGÉE, Thérèse Eléonore/b.1753-d.a1814/1
MARIENKOFF, Audrey/b. ? Angers-a.2008-/1
MARVAL, Jacqueline/b.1866-d.1932/1
 |
| Marie MAYER-LAMARTINIERE: Sleep of Venus and Cupid (1806) |
MAYER, Marie Françoise Constance (-LAMARTINIERE)/b.1775-d.1821/2
MEIER, Marie/b.?-a.2003-/1
MEUNIER, Suzanne/b.?-a.1914-1937-d.?/1
MILLIOUD, Gabrielle/b.1875 Lyon – d.1932/1
MONGEZ, Angélique/b.1775-d.1855/1
MORISOT, Berthe/b.1841-d.1895/1
MOTTEZ, Mme/b.?-a.c1850-d.?/1
ORLOFF, Chana/b.1888-d.1968/1
PARAVISINI, Christine/b.1960-/1
PIERROT, Audrey/b.?-a. c2008-/1
POINTIER, Agnès, dit AGNEX /b.Paris 1961-/1
POIRIER, Anne & Patrick/b.1942 & 1941-/1
PRESSOUYRE, Corinne/b.?-a.1998-/1
QUENTIN, Mélanie/b.1946 Neuilly sur Seine-/3
SAINT-PHALLE, Niki de/b.1930-d.2002/4
SOYER, Marie Pauline/b.1786-d.?/2
SZYMANCZAK, Marie-Madeleine/b.?-a.2008
VAN DUIJN, Alexandrine/b. ? Paris- a.2002-/1
VAUDEVILLE, Isabelle/b.?-a2006/1
VIGEE LE BRUN, Elisabeth Louise/b.1755-d.1842/3
 |
| Barbara VAN DEN BROECK: Venus and Adonis (1600) |
Women Artists of the Low Countries
AXELL, Evelyne/b.1935 Namur-d.1972 Zwijnaarde/3
DE BOT, Joan /b.1948 Dordrecht-a. New York-/1
DE WILDE, Maria /b.1682 A’dam-d.a1755/1
FREY, Alice/b.1895 Antwerpen-d.1981 Oostende/1
HOLLANDINE, Luise/b.1622 NL-d.1709 Maubuisson (Val-d'Oise)/1
MAAS, Janneke (Houtzager-Maas, Janneke)/b.1950 Breda-/1
MERCIER, Lussie/b.?-a.c2009 Verviers?-/1
VAN DEN BROECK, Barbara/b.1560 A'pen-d.?/1
VRIESENDORP, Heleen/b.1944 ?-/1
Notes:
(1) Arscott, C. & Scott, K. (Eds) (2000) 'Manifestations of Venus - Art and sexuality' Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York.
(2) The percentage figures are calculated with the harmonised data sets published in tables 2, 3 and 4 of my Research Paper 5 (2011): Time Distribution, Popularity, Diversity and Productivity of the Iconography of Venus in the Low Countries, France and Italy.
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