I am wanting to do my research and my paper on the portrayal of women's bodies and also women and their appearance in general in art throughout history. Since artist will portray their subjects in such a way that is compatible with what is going on in their culture during an era, I feel like I will be able to understand what the cultures feeling were about women by looking at how they are portrayed in art. Whether it is fashion trends, war, famine or political events, what affects the way the artist portrays women?
The reason I want to look into this more was brought about because of the obseveation I made between the women portrayed in art today verses other eras. What happened in the 20th century that significantly shifted the ideal body and beauty. Never in our human race has emaciated bodies been the ideal, It has always been curvaceous women.
Along with looking at trends in history, I want to define what beauty is for each time period. What do the people of these periods find appealing in women (body and facial). If I went through all of time and did this, it may take awhile so I will focus on a few time periods. Right now I am thinking that I will discuss, Greek/Roman era, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Romanticism, and Modern (the 20th century). By the change in definition of beauty will the women of the period be portrayed differently? Is it typical that the artist will portray the ideal of that time?
Another side area that I may be interested in exploring is if the women during each period in history felt pressure to look like the ideal. And if like today they would alter their appearances to achieve this.
Along with looking at trends in history, I want to define what beauty is for each time period. What do the people of these periods find appealing in women (body and facial). If I went through all of time and did this, it may take awhile so I will focus on a few time periods. Right now I am thinking that I will discuss, Greek/Roman era, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Romanticism, and Modern (the 20th century). By the change in definition of beauty will the women of the period be portrayed differently? Is it typical that the artist will portray the ideal of that time?
Another side area that I may be interested in exploring is if the women during each period in history felt pressure to look like the ideal. And if like today they would alter their appearances to achieve this.
I have already done some research for this. Mostly what I have found is books about ideal beauty. I am nervous that I won't be able to find out the "why" behind the ideal beauty, other the proportions and mathematics. I know that women aren't talked about much in history so it may be hard to find information about this. Because I don't know what is out there on the subject I don't know for sure if my subject is too broad but I feel like I will be able to get a better idea once I find sources. As of right now I feel like limiting the eras of art to only a few, it should be an appropriate topic that will not be too broad. If the topic is too broad I was thinking that I would just focus on the ideal beauty in each era and not have an emphasis in body types. Or maybe I will have too much information on beauty and focus only on the body.
Relating this subject to my two emphasises art history and history, this subject will integrate both a lot. I will be using art as my starting off point and then using what was going on in history to change what was being portrayed in art.
I am excited to see the change that will occur in each of these time periods and to find out what what going on during each period to make the ideal beauty change.
Holly,
ReplyDeletethis is an intriguing and important topic, and you've obviously already committed real time and thought to it. I would recommend to take a glance at Umberto Eco's book The History of Beauty. It's certainly neither the first nor the last word on the topic, but it will give you a sense of the scope of your quest. You may want to consider narrowing your focus to two contrasting eras. Also, you may benefit from asking yourself what question it is, exactly, that you wish to answer with your finished thesis. Are you more interested in why ideals change? Or in how to transform ideals deliberately? Or in the impacts of these ideals on real women's lives? These (and many other questions) are options as starting points for the argumentative focus of your thesis.
I agree with Mark's comments. I would also like to suggest that you try digging into one of these eras right away to begin seeing the level of detail that you are able to find. What are your research methods here? Are you going to focus on reading art histories, or do you plan to do some original research by actually measuring proportions on art works?
ReplyDeleteWill you be connecting your results to the writings of philosophers and historians of the time? It would be interesting but would obviously increase the scope of your work!
Good start!
Will you attempt to contrast and compare several different periods, or perhaps one or two prominent past periods with say contemporary American or European perspectives? I'm interested in your work generally, but specifically how you approach thee narrowing of your topic.
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