Natural/ Cultural

In our last three films (including the first half of "Camille Claudel,") we've seen artistic creation constructed in terms of gender. "Belly of an Architect" inverts (subverts?) traditional ideas of gender, "Artemisia" plays into them, and we haven't decided yet about "Camille Claudel" (although we did observe that Claudel's story is very much also Rodin's). What can the two latest readings contribute to your thinking about how gender is linked with art in these movies? Are women associated with nature and men with culture? (Ortner) Are compulsive looking and touching, and eroticism identified with female art-making? (Felleman)

In reading the Felleman article, I came to the conclusion that the male counterparts of each female artist that we have seen contribute to the “madness” and “lust” that these artists have to their art, and to the men themselves. Artemisia and Camille Claudel both started out as head-strung females, determined to show the world that they could be successful in a professional dominated by men. Not only did their fathers accept their craft, but both Artemisia and Camille’s father believed that they could be greater than the men. They wanted their daughters to go against the traditional views of woman and to stand up for the female gender to prove that they could make art that would relate to everyone, man or woman. Their dreams and aspirations would go unaltered until they met the men that would teach them how to make more beautiful art, and would introduce them to their sexual period of life. These men and presumable teachers of the arts took these women under their wing initially to help them with their craft, but ultimately to have something pretty to look. Yes, Rodin and Tassi saw the talent in Camille and Artemisia, but since both these movies portrayed these young woman as beautiful and strong-willed, the men saw an opportunity to make love with a woman who would be able to understand and grow with his work. The end result for taking these woman as their apprentices was to have a companion to aid in his thinking process and the actual construction of work. I do not think Rodin or Tassi ever wanted to let these woman go, even after their apprenticeships were over.
The association with nature that these female artists have would have only helped the association that men have with culture in creating unified artwork. Artemisia and Camille contributed a female prospective to the artworks of Rodin and Tassi, seen in both movies. They were able to give their perspective on a particular art piece, and create something that is both moving emotionally and physically; including aspects of femininity and masculinity. I believe that Rodin and Tassi saw how their art was growing with the help of Artemisia and Camille and could not let the success they knew they would have with these woman out of their sight. The beginning of each relationship started as visual pleasure, but progressed into obsession with masculine power and artistic success. The man is associated with culture, seeing his success directly linked to their female counterpart. And the female is associated with nature, not aware of the consequences of being romantically involved with their master, and only feeling the “love” that they have for them.
Artemisia and Camille both had obsessions with the natural aspects of art; looking and touching. Artemisia had an obsession with looking at the nude figure and people making love and interacting sexually with others, which can be seen in the movie in the early figure drawings she had made of her male friend. Camille’s obsession with mud can be attributed to her love of touching and feeling things. These natural obsessions of the senses can be attributed to their female gender, and in both movies, is directly identified with their erotic nature and art-making. Their obsessions intensify as they become sexually active with their male teachers, and are able to describe their emotions through their artwork. They both create art for themselves, as a way of expression, which is a natural feeling. Men would only create artwork to get commissions to make monuments, buildings, and painting in order to make money and to gain fame.