The sexual politics of impressionist illegibility

Author

Clayson, Hollis

Document type

Article (livre)

Language

English

Book title

Dealing with Degas : representations of women and the politics of vision

Author (monograph)

Kendall, Richard (Editor, Collective Author); Pollock, Griselda (Editor, Collective Author)

Source

Dealing with Degas : representations of women and the politics of vision. 1992, 66-79, 9 ill. (1 col.)

Publisher

HarperCollins, London (gbr)

Publication country

United Kingdom

Abstract (en)

The lack of consistency in interpretation by 19th and 20th cs. commentators on Degas's pastel-enhanced monotype Women in Front of a Café, Evening (Paris, Musée d'Orsay), is attributed to the straddling and eliding of the iconographic categories established by other artworks on the subject of prostitutes, and the idiosyncratic, allusive syntax of body and gesture. Submits that the imprecise narrative and blurred handling of painted detail does not denote an intellectual or moral detachment on the part of the artist, but rather serves to fix an identity for prostitutes, and has a specific sexual politics.

Subject (en)

• General history of art -- 1800-1945 -- Pictorial arts -- Painting and drawing -- France
• Degas, Edgar, 1834-1917
• Prints
• France
• Women in front of a Café, Evening
• 1800-1900
• Technique
• Prostitutes
• Iconography
• Musée d'Orsay||Paris (FRA)
• Monotypes
• Representation
• Gesture
• Modernism
• Art criticism
• Impressionism

Subject (fr)

• Histoire générale de l'art -- 1800-1945 -- Peinture et arts graphiques -- Peinture et dessin -- France
• Degas, Edgar, 1834-1917
• Estampe
• France
• Femmes devant un café, le soir
• 1800-1900
• Technique
• Prostituées
• Iconographie
• Musée d'Orsay||Paris (FRA)
• Monotype
• Représentation
• Geste
• Modernisme
• Critique d'art
• Impressionnisme

Origin

DatabaseBHA (Inist-CNRS/GRI)

Identifier19940701-00345287

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