Sexing the canvas: Calling on the medium

Abstract

The first part of this article explores current art-historical approaches to gender through three case studies: the Venus of Willendorf; Michelangelo; and Artemisia Gentileschi. The second part employs case studies to examine how ideas about gender have historically been articulated and performed through the use of specific media and techniques. There has been little research devoted to how mediums (such as fresco, oil, and watercolour) and techniques (including drip, impasto, and staining) materialize femininity and masculinity. The article seeks to redress this neglect through an examination of some of the ways in which the gendering of materials and modes of art-making has contributed to the construction and deconstruction of sexual difference in the visual field. Artists whose works are considered include Francis Bacon, Thomas Girtin, J.M.W. Turner, and Jack Vettriano. © Association of Art Historians 2009.