The Politics of Vision

by Linda Nochlin

A leading critic and historian of nineteenth-century art and society explores in nine essays the interaction of art, society, ideas, and politics.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Essays, School

220 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

Linda Nochlin was an American art historian, university professor and writer. A prominent feminist art historian, she was best known as a proponent of the question "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?", in an essay of the same name published in 1971.

Her critical attention has been drawn to investigating the ways in which gender affects the creation and apprehension of art, as evidenced by her 1994 essay "Issues of Gender in Cassatt and Eakins". Besides feminist art history, she was best known for her work on Realism, specifically on Gustave Courbet. Complementing her career as an academic, she served on the Art Advisory Council of the International Foundation for Art Research. In 2006, Nochlin received a Visionary Woman Award] from Moore College of Art & Design.

Reviews

[michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

normally i love linda nochlin, and to be fair the essay "the imaginary orient" is more than worth reading (although best in conjunstion with said). but dude. the rest of the book is alarmingly uninsightful. she discusses a lot of fascinating paintings really superficaially, with a focus on biography! boring.

[Kandace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling collection of essays that situate nineteenth-century modernism as art historians characterize beginning with Courbet and then Manet through the impressionists and post-impressionists. A lot of the essays challenge the normative, progressive model of art history and work to better contextualize the work within the social and political landscapes instead. Nochlin as a feminist also has a keen eye for shifting the conversation toward issues of sexuality, class, and gender in important ways.

[jakira · Rating 3 out of 5]

an ~ok~ collection of essays that talk about politics and ideology as it appears in 19th century art history, particularly on seminal artists like Degas, Seurat, Pissarro, etc.

obviously, Nochlin's "The Imaginary Orient" is the more iconic (and provocative) of the bunch. many of them felt rather lackluster and boring. i did enjoy Chapter 2's discussion of the picturesque and Francisco Oller as well as Chapter 7 about time (cyclical vs historical).

it was just... meh though overall for me.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of us who enjoy art history, these essays on the nineteenth century are a must read. Professor Nochlin does a marvelous job of setting the scene, both culturally and politically, for the modernist revolution which begins when the Impressionists decide that if the official government-sponsored Salon will not show their works, then they will organize their own shows, and goes on to examine the effects of light, color and space on canvas and paint. Edouard Manet looms large in these years, of course, as does Eugene Delacroix before him and Degas and Seurat afterwards. The essay on Degas and the Dreyfus Affair was especially revealing.