#nochlin

     On October 29th, the revolutionary art historian Linda Nochlin passed away at the age of 86. Many art history students will know her from her elucidating covering Realism, Orientalism, or women in art. Many of her works, including “Why Have There Been No Great Female Artists?” have had a profound impact on my own studies, and reading her essays often lead me to question standards and assumptions I was led to make by the more established art historical canon.

     “Why Have There Been No Great Female Artists?”, published in 1971, is probably her most famous work. It challenged the use of the word genius and its connotation to male artists and the male-centered system of academies or father-son relationship of masters and apprentices that kept women from entering the world of fine arts. 

     Apart from her extensive work on feminist art history, Nochlin also explored Orientalism. We read an essay called "The Imaginary Orient” in one of my art history classes. What especially struck me from this particular work was her insistence that we must study all parts of history, even those that we might be ashamed of. Orientalism is largely founded on racism and a fascination with the “other”, in this case the titular Imaginary Orient, but even if we now disagree with the misrepresentation of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures and Regions by artists like Gerome and Delacroix, it is still crucial to study them in order to gain insight into the French society out of which they formed. Art truly functions as a window into the past, but not on the subject as much as on the artist and patron that produced it. While what we see is likely altered and biased, it reveals the creator’s intentions, as well as the influences of the society it was created in.

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