Mor' better, mor' worse : the effects of marriage on the valuing of art

Abstract

Since the beginning of time, men have dominated the creation, theorization, and evaluation of art. And though women have also been creating art throughout the centuries, they have typically been relegated to the realm of decorative and applied arts, and therefore their work has largely been ignored and overlooked. It is true that women would occasionally be successful at breaking into the male-dominated art world and achieving some measure of recognition and even fame, but these success stories are few and far between. Fortunately, this begins to change in the twentieth century; women finally have a slightly better chance at eking out a name for themselves and making a substantial contribution to the art world. But the gender-related obstacles female artists faced were compounded when they were married to male artists. It is only natural that two artists involved in a day-to-day relationship have mutual influence on one another's artistic ideologies and styles, but the female is often accused of copying her husband and producing a pale imitation of his work. The marriage between Abstract Expressionist painters Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock serves as a prime example of this additional discrimination. Ignoring the volumes of gossip and myth that surround the highly publicized marriage of Krasner and Pollock, and instead focusing solely on their development as artists and the work that they produced, I sought to discover for myself whether Krasner deserved her reputation as a second-rate artist. After careful research and analysis I determined that neither artist was superior, but rather each was vitally important to the development, success, and impact that Abstract Expressionism had on the rest of the art world.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

1998

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Congdon, Kristin G.

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Program

Art History

Subjects

Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic;Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences;Abstract expressionism -- United States;Artist couples -- Biography;Krasner, Lee -- 1908-1984 -- Criticism and interpretation;Painters -- United States -- Biography;Pollock, Jackson -- 1912-1956 -- Criticism and interpretation

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0021536

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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