‘the Art Of Being “Artistic”’ Essays Example

Elizabeth Alice Honig’s article, “The Art of Being ‘Artistic’: Dutch Women’s Creative Practices in the 17th Century,” was an interesting and informative piece on art history. It addresses the difference between what it means to be male and female in the world of art, as well as the world itself. Honig mention’s many female artists, such as Judith Leyster and Margareta Maria de Roodere, classically trained women who had male teachers. They were trained by men, and even took on male students. There works were considered fantastic in the eyes of experts but, according to Honig, after these female painters died, their names, “slipped into oblivion,” only to be resurrected by overt feminist artists.
The article does not only assess the forgotten women in artistic history, but rather the author assesses the role of class as well. This was a necessity, especially when examining female Dutch painters in the 17th century for several reasons. For example, women were often considered amateurs when it came to their role in the art community; they were established as amateur painters almost regardless of their experience. The reason for this is they were at a socioeconomically disadvantage to men, which appeared to be permanent for the time. They were not expected to earn a living wage, work, or earn for themselves. Even if their husband earned a decent amount of money, the woman herself would always considered to be poor. The author states in the article, “Middle-class women were not expected to work,” in Holland, as they were classically trained in skills that required little effort or skill; their primary devotion was to find a husband who would support them. Artistic training would have been viewed as pointless for a young woman when parents assumed she would be married within a few years.
This was not entirely without positivity among the female art community in Holland, however. Honig states amateurs had their own way of creating art, declaring, “it was only the ‘lover of art,’ the amateur who had the luxury to be so playful and experimental,” further explaining women were quite experimental with their art. While it is true women were rarely trained by professionals, and were often forgotten after their deaths for the work they performed, they were able to give in to their grandest ideas without being hindered by any such formal training, allowing them to develop new techniques, and display new ideas. While the article is not shy about stating the grief female artists enduring for their craft, there did appear to be positive aspects to their constant abandonment from the artistic world.
The article points out many things about female Dutch painters. Unfortunately, even when professionally trained, many works by these women were forgotten. Their names are often lost until advocates of their craft discover their work and see to it their memories are restored. Honig explains this was often because of the strict division between genders, but also because of social class. Social class was also to blame when a woman was unable to receive proper training. However, women who did not receive proper training were often able to create art deviating from what art appreciators were used to, allowing them to set themselves apart. While they should never have been forgotten, and they should have been recognized for their work, there was one small positive aspect to the thick defining line between easily recognizable male artists, and forgotten female artists.