Women have played numerous changing roles in society throughout history. These roles can be inferred through the artwork produced over the years. Here are a handful of artworks that generally sum up women's position in society starting from early civilization to the start of the 21st century.
Figurine of a pregnant woman - the "Beersheba Venus", Unknown, Chalcolithic Period, 4500–3500 BCE, From the collection of: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
FERTILITY, SPECIFICALLY WOMAN WHO HAD A HEAVIER SET. WIDE HIPS ETC.
Portrait of a Woman with a Winged Bonnet, Rogier van der Weyden, around 1440, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
MODESTY, WOMEN WERE SUPPOSED TO RESERVE THEMSELVES.
Young Woman in a Blue Dress, with Fan, Jacopo Negretti, called Palma il Vecchio, 1512/1514, From the collection of: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
THE IDEA OF FERTILITY WERE HELD FOR CENTURIES.
Martha Temple, Lady Penyston (1595-1620), Cornelius Johnson, 1593–1661, British, 1619, From the collection of: Yale Center for British Art
MODESTY WAS ALSO HELD FOR CENTURIES.
An Unknown Woman and Her Two Children, unknown artist, seventeenth century, 1624, From the collection of: Yale Center for British Art
WOMEN WERE NOT JUST AROUND TO REPRODUCE BUT TO ALSO RAISE THE CHILDREN.
Danaë and the Shower of Gold, Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, 1787, From the collection of: Nationalmuseum Sweden
NUDITY BEGAN TO APPEAR A LITTLE MORE FREQUENTLY IN PAINTING OF WOMEN AROUND THE 18TH CENTURY. THE BEAUTY OF THE FEMALE BODY.
Prelude to a Concert, Marguerite Gérard, ca. 1810, From the collection of: National Museum of Women in the Arts
IN ADDITION TO BEAUTY, WOMEN WERE NOW DRESSING IN CORSETS IN MORE FEMINIST STYLE. THEY WERE IN THE SHIFT OF WOMEN BEING THIN... NOT WIDE FOR THE SAKE OF FERTILITY.
An Eclogue, Kenyon Cox, 1890, From the collection of: Smithsonian American Art Museum
BY THE LATE 1800'S NUDITY OF THE HUMAN BODY WAS ACCEPTED IN ART. THE FEMALE BODY WAS DEPICTED MUCH WITH BEAUTY AND GRACE.
Woman with her elbows on the table, Olga Sacharoff, Ca.1915, From the collection of: Museo Art Nouveau y Art Déco - Casa Lis
BY THE 20TH CENTURY, WOMEN WERE NOW SUBJECT TO THE CULT OF DOMESTICITY. THEY WERE THE KEEPER OF THE HOUSE AND CHILDREN, WHILE THE HUSBANDS WORKED.
A Woman Reading a Book, Yi Je-chang, 1896/1954, From the collection of: Korea Data Agency
BY THIS TIME, WOMEN HAD A NEW LOOK. THEY DID NOT DRESS LIKE THE PREVIOUS CENTURY. IT WAS A MORE MODERN LOOK. HOWEVER THE BOREDOM DEPICTED IN THIS PICTURE CALLS FOR ANOTHER SHIFT.
Ruby Loftus screwing a Breech-ring, Knight, Laura (Dame) (RA), 1943, From the collection of: Imperial War Museums
IN THE 20TH CENTURY WOMEN MADE PERHAPS THE LARGEST SHIFT IN HISTORY... ENTERING THE WORKFORCE. DUE TO WAR AND THE ECONOMY, WOMEN WERE NOW PART OF THE WORKFORCE.
Urban scene in Oporto with rain, Ricardo Navarro Poves, 20th Century, From the collection of: Dionísio Pinheiro And Alice Cardoso Pinheiro Foundation
OVER JUST A FEW DECADES IN THE 20TH CENTURY THIS SHIFT OCCURRED WHERE WOMEN WERE NOT COOPED UP IN THEIR HOMES, BUT OUT IN THE CITY. NOTE THEIR APPEARANCE CHANGES IMMENSELY AS WELL.
Leapaway girl, Ian Scott (artist), 1969, From the collection of: Te Papa
LEISURE ACTIVITIES IN THIS PICTURE SHOW THE FREEDOM THEY NOW HAD. SKINNY WAS CONSIDERED NORMAL... NOTE THE DRESSING STYLE; SHORT DRESSES WITH HIGH HEELS AND TWO-PIECE SWIMSUITS.
Woman Power, Maria Lassnig, 1979, From the collection of: Essl Museum - Contemporary Art
THE POWER OF WOMEN! FOLLOWING CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS, WOMAN BEGAN MOVEMENTS FOR EQUALITY. THIS WOULD SHOCK THE WOMEN PREVIOUSLY DEPICTED EARLIER IN THIS EXHIBITION.
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Smithsonian American Art Museum
Yale Center for British Art
Essl Museum - Contemporary Art
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Te Papa
Nationalmuseum Sweden
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Museo Art Nouveau y Art Déco - Casa Lis
Korea Data Agency
Dionísio Pinheiro And Alice Cardoso Pinheiro Foundation
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Imperial War Museums