Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960

• Main Author: Guðmundsdóttir, Hanna Guðlaug
• Other Authors: Ragnheiður Kristjánsdóttir, Sagnfræði- og heimspekideild (HÍ), Faculty of History and Philosophy (UI), Hugvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Humanities (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Iceland, School of Humanities, Faculty of History and Philosophy 2023
• Subjects: Listfræði; Kyngervi; Femínismi; Doktorsritgerðir; Maður; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/4468

Unlike most other academic disciplines in Iceland, there has been little or no research in art history using feminist methodology and theories in which the concept of gender occurs. A critical review of the methodology applied in analysing the discourse on art is thus long overdue. The objectives of the research are threefold: 1) to analyse the discourse on art from the latter half of the nineteenth century to 1960 in relation to gender and feminist methodology, 2) to analyse how gendered separation of artforms was applied in the discourse, and 3) to analyse how women reacted to gendered discourse on art (or silencing) and the discrimination they faced in the fields of culture and the visual arts. Emphasis is put on analysing the discourse on art in newspapers and periodicals where, as is shown, the emergence of art historical took place during the most important formative period in Icelandic art. The thesis argues that the art historical discourse that thus emerged was fundamentally gendered, defining Icelandic art as the product of male geniuses. The unique, national and original were masculine qualities and the antithesis of the feminine impressionability and lack of independent creative powers. The thesis therefore supports the large contribution of research of feminist art historians in an international context as to how gender is a key aspect in analysis of artworks. Likewise, the research shows that despite the special position of Iceland in a political and art historical context, the national, male-oriented discourse on art during the period further undermined the recognition of Icelandic women artists and their cultural eligibility in their native country—and even pushed them out of their country to a place where they were often taken more seriously as artists. Furthermore, the thesis shows the gendered discourse and discrimination of art genres, where the art creations of women, including handicrafts, were considered as “women’s domain” while painting and sculpture were men’s domain. Finally, the ...