Why Are There No Great Female Artists?

When discussions concerning the greatest artists of all time arise, we hear mention of Van Gough, Rembrandt, Da Vinci and the likes, but never any great women artist numbered among the aforementioned. Why is this? Linda Nochlin in her 1971 essay, “Why have there been no great women artists?” essentially proposes two reasons or ideas to answer this question. Nochlin believes the notion of artistic genius is one of the primary reasons why art historians are unable to answer this question. The idea of artistic genius has been prevalent since the 15 and 16th centuries. The belief is that great art emerges from personal expression of one’s individual life and is made alive in visual art. Nochlin describes these beliefs as unrealistic and untrue, that the greatest masterpieces in fact did
So then, “why have there been no great women artists?” Nochlin (1988), writes that to ask this question “falsifies the nature of the issue at the same time that it insidiously supplies its own answer: “There are no great women artists because women are incapable of greatness” (p. 147). Nochlin argues that this question cannot be answered by sifting through history in search of records of great female artist as this only strengthens the negative implication of the question itself. Nochlin suggests changing our perspective in order to understand this phenomenon.
Nochlin suggests we rid the notion of genius and instead, examine the total social context of artistic production throughout history. We must analyze the social and academic institutions of those considered great artists, since art and history share a deep relationship and an almost direct correlation. Art history shows that certain people were not included due to social