Mrs. Edmund Morton Pleydell, Thomas Gainsborough
Mrs. Edmund Morton Pleydell is shown holding a delicate flower and adorned with an expensive dress with floral designs. There is no question about her wealth.
Putting so much emphasis on her appearance gives the sense that women are to be admired as things of beauty, which is very limiting to a person's identity. It tells the viewer a woman's importance lies in her appearance.
Carmelina, Henri Matisse
The woman is in a relaxed and seductive pose. She has been painted with natural proportions and an unidealized body type.
Despite these positives, the nudity of the painting continues the trend of objectification.
It limits the subject sphere that female subjects can occupy.
"Male art that dehumanizes women vs. female art that illuminates the reality of sexual violence and female objectification"
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"OBSERVATIONS: OBJECTIFYING WOMEN"
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Reclining Nude, Henri Matisse
The woman is in a forced, seductive pose. She has been painted with natural proportions and an unidealized body type.
Despite these positives, the nudity of the painting continues the trend of objectification.
It limits the subject sphere that female subjects can occupy.
The Rape of Proserpine, Paolo Veronese
This artwork is a blatant glamorization of violence against women. Proserpine is in immense agony and is vulnerable, which is heightened by her nudity.
A subject like this can be extremely triggering to some audience members.
"Female Artists Delete Rape’s ‘Heroic’ Underpinnings"
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"Images of Rape: The "Heroic" Tradition and its Alternatives"
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Rape of Europa, Titian
This artwork is a blatant glamorization of violence against women. Europa is in immense agony and is vulnerable, which is heightened by her nudity.
Her rape is also eroticized and she is shown as complicit in this violence against her. The portrayal can be subject to the discussion that she is consenting to this unjust act.
A subject like this can be extremely triggering to some audience members.
The Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, John Singer Sargent
The carpet design behind Isabella Stewart Gardner invokes a halo of light, comparing her as a holy figure and of the divine.
This could be seen as blasphemous to the conservative audience of her time, making it worse due to her gender.
Her black dress has a plunging neckline and accentuates her waist making her a very sexualized figure.
It was Gardner who chose to portray herself as such, giving immense power in controlling how she would have liked to be seen.