Challenging the Male Gaze: A Series of Collage Conversations with the Works of Édouard Manet

Mikayla Herring

CHALLENGING THE MALE GAZE A Series of Collage Conversations with the Works of Édouard Manet

Challenging the Male Gaze

WESTERN ART AND THE MALE GAZE THEORY

Figure 1. Édouard Manet, “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” 1882. Oil on Canvas, The Courtauld London A Bar at the Foiles-Bergere (1882) Her expression is dull and neutral, by Édouard Manet, has been one seemingly bored with the man of my favorite pieces from the who is seen in the reflection at impressionist period since I was the top right corner of the image. young. The image depicts a barmaid named Suzon at a music hall frequently visited by Manet.

03

Challenging the Male Gaze

04

Much of Manet’s artwork depicted women and as I looked at more of his paintings, I realized the women are all portrayed with a somber expression posed perfectly as if they are statues rather than animate human beings. The female figure is a beautiful subject matter, one that I revisit often in my art practice, but has been historically subjected to “the male gaze” bound to the confines constructed by heterosexual white men.

In Western Art, women are overwhelmingly draped over couches or stiffly sitting upon benches. Unsurprisingly, these works were largely created by men contributing to a visual library defined by “the male gaze”. This term was created by Laura Mulvey, a film critic, in 1975 defining the term as, “the representation of women in the arts through the perspective of a heterosexual male”1. She highlights that women are objectified and sexualized in these portrayals. If this Western male depiction of women was removed from major art museums, whole galleries would be left barren. I often wonder how different our visual library from art history would be if women had been allowed to their rightful place in the art industry reflecting how they view their gender in paintings. Art is supposed to reflect society, but it can't accurately reflect the female gender when historically only white heterosexual men were considered talented enough to create.

In these collage conversations with Manet, I wanted to challenge this “male gaze” but also expand upon the historical controversy that surrounded his work. Manet's depictions of women were often taken as scandalous or not decent enough for viewers. He pushed the societal dialogue of what women were worthy of being painted and how they should be presented. While I admire his willingness to challenge some of the societal constricts surrounding gender at the time, it does not live up to the potential of artwork created by female artists who were silenced or denied a place in art history. I am not denying the beauty found in Manet's paintings nor am I trying to convince myself or anyone that he didn't have talent but rather trying to challenge a persistent viewpoint of women that I feel does not accurately represent how I view my own experience as a woman.

1. Alyssa Opris, “Exploring the Male Gaze Through Art,” Valley, April 12, 2023, http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/exploring-the-male-gazethrough-art/

Challenging the Male Gaze

05

Challenging the Male Gaze

MÉLANGER DES COCKTAILS, EMBRASSER LES FEMMES MAKE COCKTAILS KISS WOMEN

The two collages titled Mélanger des Cocktails; Embrasser les Femmes translating to Make Cocktails, Kiss Women; are in conversation with Manet’s painting of the barmaid. Her expression seems quite dull and uninterested perhaps caused by the actions/words of the figure in the top right of the image. In my collage recreation, I wanted to keep the overall color palette and composition of the painting but alter the narrative of the barmaid. The left image is a sapphic take on Manet's work in which the barmaid has a female lover. Next is a livelier image of a female bartender. Rather than standing there uninterested and encased by what appears to be a confining dress, my figure is posed free of clothes and shaking a cocktail with liveliness.

06

Challenging the Male Gaze

07

The image of the woman in the conservatory is not erotic and is arguably not even a sexualized view of a woman. Rather the female figure seems to just be used as decoration to make the image more appealing. In her book Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey explains a more nuanced mechanism of the male gaze: "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual...impact so they can be said to connote to-be-looked-atness"2 Rather than outright sexualizing the female figure, the woman is placed in a role where she is passively sitting in a way that is intended for the gaze of a male figure as exemplified by Manet's painting.

Figure 2. Édouard Manet, “In the Conservatory” 1878-1879. Oil on Canvas, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin

2. Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Screen 16, no. 3 (1975): 4.

Challenging the Male Gaze

IN THE CONSERVATORY

08

Challenging the Male Gaze

09

Challenging the Male Gaze

HER GREEN DOMAIN In Her Green Domain, I sought to challenge the passive role the female plays in Manet's work. I removed the man's features and used him as a shadowy object emphasizing the importance of the woman.

Furthermore, I wanted to build upon giving the female an active role by imagining her inner thoughts. I layered behind the main figure an image of a woman looking out over a sea covering the image in plastic to give it a haziness and sense that it is not taking place in the physical world. The background is intended to illustrate the dream of the woman to be alone and secluded from the presence of men.

10

Challenging the Male Gaze

11

Figure 3. Édouard Manet, “Repose (Le Repos)” 1871. Oil on Canvas, RISD Museum, Providence

REPOSE 3. “Inventing Impressionism,” RISD Museum, October 21, 2016, https://risdmuseum.org/artdesign/collection/repose-le-repos59027 4. Ibid.

Repose can be defined as a noun in which it is a state of rest or a verb meaning to be kept in a particular place. According to the RISD museum where the piece resides, Manet's painting titled Repose was criticized not for the quality of the painting, but for the casual positioning of the model and the informality of her dress3. Manet himself admitted to seeking out this psychological response wanting to analyze the viewer's reaction to the subject, "not at all in the character of the portrait"4. Perhaps part of Manet identified the invasiveness of the "Male Gaze" and its desire for females to be positioned in a way that appeases their taste in aesthetics.

Challenging the Male Gaze

My goal in Libération Cramoisie was to push what Manet had perhaps already started. To destroy any sense of formality in the dress and to position two female models in a way that goes against the historical view of "sitting like a lady". I transformed the dress into a disaster of reds and pinks to create an anatomical form similar to that of the female uterus.

12

The reds were placed to symbolize menstrual blood swirling across the couch staining everything in its path. I would like to imagine the reactions I would have gotten from the critical men who viewed Manet's Repose. To see their faces when they look upon two females free bleeding all over the couch encased in a dress of chaotic sensuality.

LIBÉRATION CRAMOISIE CRIMSON LIBERATION

Challenging the Male Gaze

13

BEFORE THE MIRROR

Figure 4. Édouard Manet, “Repose (Le Repos)” 1871. Oil on Canvas, RISD Museum, Providence 5. Vita Kirschtein,"The Woman in the Mirror: How Representations of Female Vanity Have (Not) Evolved," The Spectator 16, n. 113 , https://stuyspec.com/article/the-woman-in-the-mirror-how-representations-offemale-vanity-have-not-evolved

More abstract than the other paintings of Manet, Before the Mirror, is an intimate image of a woman gazing upon herself, her back turned to the viewer. This painting is similar to A Young Woman Looking in A Mirror (1588-1667) by Nicholas Reigner which depicts a woman with a flirtatious expression that Vita Kirschtein interprets in The Spectator as a "stupidity and a fixation on [her] own appearances"5. This continues a harmful narrative under the male gaze that women are only capable of trivial matters such as dressing up and gazing at their reflections.

While Manet's rendition of this subject lacks a rendered reflection, the positioning of the woman's back towards the viewer conveys a sense that she is completely captivated by what she sees.

Challenging the Male Gaze

Avert your Gaze unveils the underlying motives of the artists behind the mirror paintings of histories; to portray females as vain and incapable of caring about anything other than their appearance. I positioned the figure's gaze away from a mirror that is being consumed by strangled inky limbs.

The image is supposed to connect the viewer to the eyes of the woman who is confused as to how she is supposed to paint herself to fit societal standards but in a way that isn't interpreted as vain or sensual. I sought to challenge the traditional correlation between females and mirrors, which was constructed by the patriarchy, in a depiction of a woman feeling as if she will be shamed if she looks at her reflection.

14

AVERT YOUR GAZE

Challenging the Male Gaze

LE BALCON

15

Figure 5. Édouard Manet, "Le Balcon" 1868-1869. Oil on Canvas, Musee d'Orsay.

Tessa Solomon, "Berthe Morisot, Impressionism’s Most Relentless Innovator, Is Finally Receiving Her Due," Art News, January 31, 2021, https://www.artnews.com/artnews/artists/berthe-morisot-who-is-shewhy-is-she-important-1234581283/

Challenging the Male Gaze

The three figures painted in Le Balcon by Manet were friends of his. The figure in the front is the one the viewer's attention is immediately drawn to as it is evident Manet took the most time in rendering her image.

This figure is impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, unsurprisingly less known than the male colleagues she was frequently associated with.

Her paintings were widely exhibited during her life, but critics displayed sexism in their viewing noting the flirtatious qualities of her art. She would pose for many of Manet's works including; and married his brother in 1874. Manet exhibited her work in his show Salon des Refusés, featuring works rejected by Salon de Paris. According to ArtNews, Albert Woff dismissed the show's works writing, "five or six lunatics of which one is a woman… whose feminine grace is maintained amid the outpourings of a delirious mind.”6 Woff's review is a common display of sexism that occurred in not only the male gaze of the female figure but also in works created by women.

16

I wanted to have a conversation surrounding Morisot's position in Manet's painting. To me, Morisot's works accomplish what I wish Manet could have in his renditions of the female figure. Morisot's utilization of rapid brushstrokes not only distinguishes her impressionist works from those of her male colleagues but also her embodiment of feminine selfhood she displays. As stated by ArtNews, Morisot treats the female figure with integrity as, "unlike Degas’ ballerinas or Manet’s nudes, Morisot’s women are free of objectification."7. I thought it would not only be important to dedicate a collage to Morisot because of her frequent appearance in the work of Manet but also because she contradicts the "male gaze" in a way I wish would be more well known.

Challenging the Male Gaze

LA LIBERTÉ DE BERTHE La Liberté de Berthe is my reimagined depiction of Berthe Morisot in Manet's painting. A popular subject used in Morisot's work was the inclusion of a bird cage.

Therefore I collaged a bird cage into the center of her figure with fabric spilling out from the center and birds flying around her, a metaphor for her sense of self being unleashed. Posed in solidarity, I wanted Morisot to have her portrait due to not only her important contributions to the subject matter of Manet's work but also because her work fell under Manet's shadow because of her status as a woman. Morisot deserved to be free of objectification and therefore I wanted her depicted in a powerful stance rather than delicately gazing off of a balcony.

17

Challenging the Male Gaze

18

Challenging the Male Gaze

OLYMPIA

Figure 6. Édouard Manet, "Olympia" 1863. Oil on Canvas, Musée d'Orsay.

In Olympia Manet painted the prostitute named Victorine Meurent who would pose for nine of Manet's paintings. The article titled The Naked Truth published by the Guardian recognizes Meurent's contribution to the work of Manet but notes that erased from history by a society that believed that female figures should only painted "as long as they represented goddesses or mythical figures"6. Her figure was seen as far from the ideals of perfectionism expected of female figure models and therefore was rejected as a contribution to art. Furthermore, critics complained that her pose seemed too confident rather than passive. When the painting was displayed The Guardian describes the public's reaction, "Men would hurry their wives and children past the painting, only to return later to stare at it alone”7.

This reaction is not only reflective of a society where men sexualize women but shame the display of their bodies as impure; but exemplifies how women in paintings were interpreted as intended for "the male gaze". Men didn't want their wives and children to view the figure of Meurent but thought it was acceptable to gaze upon her figure in privacy.

19

Challenging the Male Gaze

20

GUARDIANS OF AUTONOMY

Guardians of Autonomy is a modern criticization of the patriarchy's reaction to Manet's Olympia. I drew a female figure posed on a bed and then cut off her breasts and legs.

I placed the extracted parts into the hands of men as if they were in the process of constructing an "ideal" figure intended for their gaze. The figure on the far left holds up a breast as if making sure it is the "perfect size" for their model. In the literal sense, the male figures are asserting a perceived ownership of the female figure and a creation of "perfectionism" according to their standards as they wished to have seen in Olympia. Metaphorically it reflects the control men have historically and continually seize over women's bodies with an unjust sense of entitlement. They label themselves as the Guardians of Autonomy protecting their wives and children from such scandalous views keeping it for their own eyes. The faces of the figures are loosely based on the features of prominent Republicans "6.The Naked Truth," The Guardian, October who are notoriously at the front of the fight to ban 2, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ abortions. Just as men felt a sense that Meurent's figure 2008/oct/03/women.manet 7. Ibid. was intended to serve their gaze, modern lawmakers feel that women's bodies are meant to serve them by producing children.

Challenging the Male Gaze

21

LUNCHEON ON THE GRASS Figure 7. Édouard Manet, "Luncheon on the Grass" 1862-1863. Oil on Canvas, Musée d'Orsay.

Luncheon on the Grass is one of my favorite pieces done by Manet, not based on the subject matter but rather the composition. I enjoy the transition from the cool colors in the bottom lefthand corner of the page which transforms into the warmer ethereal tones of the upper center. My opinion on the subject matter is conflicted as I appreciate Manet's positioning of the body that some critics may view as unflattering due to her stomach naturally having rolls. However, the use of two female nudes in contrast to two males fully dressed feels problematic.

Manet's intention with the piece was to continue challenging the social views of nudity in art during the mid-1800s in France. According to ArtMajeur magazine...

"Manet's intention with 'The Luncheon on the Grass' was to challenge the traditional representations of mythological or historical scenes and bring a contemporary subject matter into the realm of high art. He aimed to depict modern life and human relationships in an honest and unidealized manner."8 Though Manet's goal was achieved during the social climate of the 1800s, this piece would not be considered "contemporary subject matter" in our modern understanding of feminism.

Posing only the female figures in the nude would be questioned and criticized for failing to depict the males in the same way.

Challenging the Male Gaze

22

THREADS OF IDENTITY

In Threads of Identity, I wanted to take on Manet's intentions with Luncheon on the Grass in the context of today's political and social climate. I drew three female figures positioning them in "unattractive" ways as one is leaning back with her legs casually splain while another is posing similar to the figure in the foreground depicted by Manet in which she is unconscious to how her skin is folding.

The figures are connected by a red carpet which they are all weaving. The weaving of the carpet is a metaphoric way to depict the women creating themselves and connecting through a shared experience of feminity. As Manet desired to show the nude in connection to nature rather than a heroic narrative in his piece, I wanted to ground the women into the environment.

8. Selena Mattei, "The Luncheon on the Grass by Édouard Manet," ArtMajeur, June 8, 2023, https://www.artmajeur.com/en/magazine/5-arthistory/the-luncheon-on-the-grass-by-edouard-manet/333553

Challenging the Male Gaze

23

IN REFLECTION More impressive to me than the visual elements of Manet's work is the way he continued to counter societal art standards throughout his career. Though his depictions of the female figure would in no way be considered revolutionary by modern standards, considering the historical context of their creation I appreciate his willingness to challenge social norms. In this series of collages, I found myself more often expanding upon the foundation of rebelliousness to patriarchal constraints that Manet depicted rather than contrasting to his work. His willingness to paint societal outcasts such as Victorine Meunet, a prostitute, in Olympia, exemplifies how Manet was not only revolutionary in the way he pushed the bounds of impressionism but the dialogue his paintings created. Laura Mulvey's theory of the "male gaze" continues to be prevalent in media, film, and the arts today as women are objectified and depictions of them that go beyond sexualization are taken with criticism. Manet inspires me to challenge this patriarchal limitation in my work and continue to make art that speaks to my sense of selfhood.

Figure 8. "Manet Sometime Before 1870" Wikipedia.

Photograph.

Challenging the Male Gaze

24

Challenging the Male Gaze

25

Challenging the Male Gaze

26

SOURCES "Inventing Impressionism." RISD Museum. October 21, 2016. https://risdmuseum.org/artdesign/collection/repose-le-repos-59027 Kirschtein, Vita. "The Woman in the Mirror: How Representations of Female Vanity Have (Not) Evolved." The Spectator 16. n. 113, https://stuyspec.com/article/the-woman-inthe-mirror-how-representations-of-female-vanity-have-not-evolved "The Naked Truth". The Guardian. October 2, 2008. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/03/women.manet Mattei, Selena. "The Luncheon on the Grass by Édouard Manet." ArtMajeur. June 8, 2023. https://www.artmajeur.com/en/magazine/5-art-history/the-luncheon-on-the-grass-byedouard-manet/333553 Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16. no. 3 (1975): 4.

Opris, Alyssa. "Exploring the Male Gaze Through Art." Valley. April 12, 2023. http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/exploring-the-male-gaze-through-art/ Solomon, Tessa. "Berthe Morisot, Impressionism’s Most Relentless Innovator, Is Finally Receiving Her Due." Art News. January 31, 2021. https://www.artnews.com/artnews/artists/berthe-morisot-who-is-she-why-is-she-important-1234581283/