Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond

(Legion of Honor, 21 June 2008--21 September 2008)

The lack of the sexual appeal of the paintings' subjects leaves a void in the subjects' character. There is something in the look and the poise of women when painted by men that suggests mystery, strength, youth---that sexually charges the women in the paintings. Not so in the paintings by the women impressionists. Instead, the look is blank, the back is slouched. The women in the paintings are exposed, void of the idealisation typically conferred upon them by the hand of a male painter. What is left?

Sometimes the woman's look is blank; sometimes it betrays an emotion: motherly affection (almost a duty), boredom, or longing for the unknown. Does this reflect the limited range of a late ninetieth century woman deprived of education, a woman whose main occupation is a "visitor", a "mother", or a virgin in waiting for a husband? Or is the flatness of women's characters due to the shallow perceptions and abilities of the artists? Probably a little of both can be held responsible.

The femininity of male painters' female subjects does not subtract from the character of the subjects. The femininity accentuates this character. A man is liable to idealise a woman, if only for evolutionary reasons. This idealisation is not limited to the physical. Instead, the physical idealisation often present in paintings serves to accentuate the emotional and intellectual idealisation---if it fails to do so, it becomes pornography.

The exhibition by women impressionists is a valuable study in the way women see women. Not surprisingly, however, the spectacle is surpassed by the way talented men see women and the way women would like to be seen.