Throughout history, art has always been a way for humans to express feelings and imagination. While anything could be the subject of an artist's creation, it's no secret that humans typically found themselves as inspirations for artworks.
Today, these inspirations in artwork allow insight into past generations and the culture they had. One large thing that is expressed through art is gender. While every art era had ways to express gender, the modern art era perfectly encapsulates the divide between males and females during its time period. The Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona has a vast collection of modern artworks that serve as great examples of this expression.
What is Modern Art?
Modern art refers to pieces made between the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. With art styles such as impressionism, cubism, expressionism, and more; modern art focuses on capturing a subject and portraying it from the artist's unique perspective.
Modern art was a large movement worldwide but a lot of its most famous works came from Western Europe with artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Claude Monet, and more residing in this region.
As mentioned before, this art era focused primarily on capturing a subject. While many modern artworks used both men and women as their subjects, how differently the genders were perceived and treated was very clear between the works.
Artworks in MNAC
The MNAC is filled with breathtaking artworks from many famous Spanish artists. With works from Picasso, Ramon Casas, Marià Fortuny, and more, the museum has built a heavy and impressive collection of modern pieces.
Walking through the museum's second floor, you are transformed through a gallery full of paintings and some sculptures emasculating the time period they were from. While there were very few paintings surrounding landscapes, most of these artworks portrayed humans.
Portraits
There were many portraits of both men and women throughout this exhibit. As the gallery starts, a room full of portraits can be seen. The paintings below were all included in the first room of the modern art section.
All four of these paintings show different people as the main subject of the painting. From an artistic point of view, they are all stunning in their own ways. The artists captured all an in a subtle moment, the woman sitting, the other one peering through an album, and the men both partaking in artistic activities.
While these are all beautiful, there is a clear difference between how the women and men are portrayed. The women are seen looking away from the artist. Their attention is focused elsewhere and they are sitting gracefully on their chairs. The paintings encapsulate a soft, calming feeling.
The men are portrayed quite the opposite. They are both looking directly and sternly into the eyes of the viewer. They are both caught in the moment of their work and their expressions are very serious.
Franco Lozada, a visitor from California expressed the differences he saw in the paintings as he wondered through MNAC's art exhibit. "Women in paintings tend to display more comforting traits. They are the epitome of feminity and express this through the actions in a painting," he continued on by discussing how men in paintings tend to "show the opposite of comfort, with more firm and conservative underlying features."
The Portrayal of Nudity
As the modern art exhibit continues, visitors are still greeted with more paintings of human subjects. While the portraits of males stay very similar to the ones included above, the ones of females start to become more like the painting included on the right.
The female body is used as the subject of the painting rather than the female herself. While the artwork is done beautifully, it gives off the idea that women are merely just sex objects. The portrait continues to portray the woman in a delicate matter but overall devalues her worth as her body is the only focus.
Throughout other art eras, such as the renaissance or the medieval time period, nudity was no stranger in artworks. However, as the world progressed and became more conservative, nudity in men was rarely seen.
Walking through the art exhibit at MNAC there are many nude females shown. While some children were also displayed nude, rarely any males were.
As shown on the left, Antoni Fabres' painting is depicting a man who can be concluded as nude or at least partially. It is hard to tell as most of his body is hidden away under a blanket. It also can be argued that while he may be the subject of the painting, he is not the main purpose as the setting is rather chaotic, taking away from him. His clothing, or rather lack of, is not the subject of the painting but rather his personality displayed through the painting as a whole.
Sally, a tourist from the United Kingdom is a large fan of modern art. While complementing its beauty, she does believe that the inequality between men and women was easily seen.
"Paintings of all eras constantly show nude women. If they are not shown nude, they are usually pictured sporting fabrics and designs rather than themselves. The women are perceived as muses, merely models for the male eye, or something just to view."
She continued her thought by discussing how this has shaped how males are viewed in paintings. "As women are something to view, men rather show off. They appear rougher and tough, and overall less enticing"
Muse vs. Main Character
Modern art was a revolutionary time for many things. Innovations were being developed, enlightening ideas were being formed, and much more. As art and art styles were being evolved, the roles of gender stayed very separated. Women were perceived as models and accessories, while men were being portrayed as the main character of the artwork and their world.
"Women portray love and beauty, while men portray strength and challenge," Raquel Silva, a worker at the MNAC discussed when asked her thoughts on the portrayal. Women are seen more as accessories to the males or their surroundings, while the men are seen to be what everything revolves around.
The artwork throughout the museum was extraordinary. It portrays many different ideas and perfectly shows the gender gap during this era. The MNAC has thousands of artworks with thousands of meanings and is overall a must-stop place on a visit to Barcelona.
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