ART IN THE FEMININE: BRUSHSTROKES IN ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, PRESENTATIONS OF THE BODY, NATURE AND SYMBOLIC CONSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORY OF ART
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhshreejan.v3.i3.2026.99Keywords:
Women’s Art, Art History, Intellectual Creation, Artistic Recognition, Artistic CanonAbstract [English]
This article analyses art as an artistic and cultural manifestation, focusing on the relationship between the feminine, nature and culture in the Western artistic sphere. The aim of this research is to examine the historical relationship between the feminine, nature, corporeality, fertility and reproduction, as opposed to the values of reason, intellectual creation and culture, traditionally associated with the masculine. This symbolic dichotomy has influenced modes of artistic representation and contributed to the construction of gender hierarchies within the field of art history. The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on a review of the specialist literature and a critical analysis of works of art, drawing on contributions from art history, feminist studies and ecofeminism to challenge traditional models of the relationship between gender, culture and nature. As such, the methodology prioritises an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together art history, visual arts, feminist theory and ecofeminism, thereby enabling a critical analysis of images as cultural productions embedded within specific historical and social contexts. The study also examines the historical marginalisation of women artists, highlighting their creative capacity beyond the social, institutional and cultural constraints that have limited women’s access to training, exhibition opportunities and artistic recognition, based on the works of Pollock, Ortner, Blocker, Bryson and Anne Cauquelin, drawing on art history, visual studies and ecofeminist thought. Finally, the study highlights the importance of feminist approaches in re-examining the history of art, through the recovery of artists, authorship, representation and recognition within the artistic canon.
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