The anthropological study of Nicholas Vasilieff's "old lady with a white dog drawing" will be the subject of this article. Via enticing and fascinating portraits, art has traditionally served as a lens to reflect culture or to criticize some of its social norms. One such work of art was a painting by Nicholas Vasilieff depicting a lady with a white dog.
Gendered Space and Patriarchy
Since time immemorial, the ideas of male hegemony have become profoundly rooted in culture. This patriarchal philosophy can be felt in the creation of rooms, including artwork and architecture. Gendered space is an instrument of actions and thoughts, which enact the power struggle between masculinity and femininity. A patriarchal framing of art spaces creates an aura of invincibility to the masculine power, which ultimately affects the gender roles, social order, and hierarchical progression.
Background
The Artist
Nicholas Vasilieff was a Russian artist born in 1887 in Moscow Russia. Vasilieff's early life in Moscow was that of Russian Modernist Movement and his tendency towards expressionism.
Vasilieff migrated to the U.S. in 1923. He moved away from Russian's Cubo-futurism and developed a satirical painting style of expression that resonated with the 19th-century representation of women.
The Painting
The old woman with a white dog was painted in 1946. During this time, women were largely oppressed and treated as second-class citizens in most cultures.
The oppression stemmed from the societal expectations of their roles in the family, how they treat their bodies, and the religious demands for their morality.
Ideology and Iconography
The painting reflects material and class interests postulated by Karl Marx. There is a possibility of royal or high-class status for the woman because of the extensive makeup used.
The white dog sitting on her lap, the chair she sits on, and the extensive makeup are symbols of wealth and class.
Formal Analysis of the Artwork
Space/ Shape/ Composition
The old woman's figure sits four-square inside the surface of the picture, filling its space with a powerful painterly image (Kramer). The artist focuses on the woman rather than the background to show the importance of the subject in society.
The posture and dressing of the figure elucidate confidence and self-worth in the woman.
Composition of the art is aesthetically pleasing.
Color/ Tone
Eastern color/ "Byzantine palette" (Kramer n.p.). Represents good fortune and prosperity of the depicted figure. The combination with a white dog represents some sort of satisfaction or joy.
The Use and Effect of Formal Elements
Smooth visual texture (Kramer n.p.). The artwork illustrates royalty or upper class, and the smooth texture could be symbolic of that.
Interpretation
The art is produced by articulating and organizing aesthetic qualities and the insertion of existential meanings. It transcends the neutrality of the canvas to become an aesthetic beauty that represents gender transactions, cultural processes, and other human imaginations and creations.
The related readings show the patronization of the female gender by the male gender from society. The piece of art further illustrates the gaps in gender equality.
The painting is the artist's way of confronting social perceptions of gender at the time of painting. Women were mainly considered second-class subjects whose roles were in the kitchen and rarely accorded royal or high-class symbols unless married to those classes.
Conclusion
The artwork illustrates a deviation from the normal societal expectations of gender roles and attributes. The figure is likely from a royal or high-class family, illustrating a representation of Marxist ideology. The artistic use of formal elements creates an aesthetically pleasing piece of work.
Art is one of the primary means of representing gendered space in society, as illustrated by the painting of the old woman with a dog.
Work Cited
Kramer, Hilton. “Art: Vasilieff Discovered Again.” The New York Times, 1977, http://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/15/archives/new-jersey-weekly-art-vasilieff-discovered-again.html?_r=1. Accessed 5 March 2017.
