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During the 19th century and 20th century, if a woman wanted to succeed as a professional artist anywhere in the world, she would have to circumvent gender-specific artistic and social hierarchies. While the access to the profession was limited, women had always been an incredible source of inspiration for male artists who usually portrayed them within the exact roles they were supposed to play: goddess, mothers, servants or concubines.
In fact, the question of the place of women in the art world has been inspiring museums to look back on their collections in order to understand the subject in two perspectives: 1) how are women portrayed in art history and 2) how female artists are present (or not) in the museum collections. In line with these concerns, the Macao Museum of Art presents Representing Women through MAM Collection – 19th and 20th Century, which showcases 70 female portraits from a collection by the nature of the place where it was built, including works from a Chinese and Western tradition, or works that are at the confluence of both traditions.
The exhibition is organised in four sections: ‘A Western Tradition in Macao – 19th Century’, ‘Views of Europeans on China – Late 19th Century’, ‘Calendars and Posters – Early 20th Century’ and ‘Propaganda – Mid 20th Century’. The works presented use different media such as oil paintings, drawings, watercolours, gouache, posters, and sculptures.
Even though progressively, as the world entered the 20th century, technological, philosophical and cultural changes opened opportunities for women to play active roles socially and within the artistic avant-garde, the reality is that women served different ideologies within a patriarchal society. Art served as a way to reinforce the values about the role of women, but it also served to express alternative views. The narrative created in this exhibition presents simultaneously the conservative values, considered as to be more decent, as well as the more progressive views which were also understood as pure decadence of traditional values, through different chronological periods, within the specificities of the Macao Museum of Art collection.
Time : 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Price : Free
In fact, the question of the place of women in the art world has been inspiring museums to look back on their collections in order to understand the subject in two perspectives: 1) how are women portrayed in art history and 2) how female artists are present (or not) in the museum collections. In line with these concerns, the Macao Museum of Art presents Representing Women through MAM Collection – 19th and 20th Century, which showcases 70 female portraits from a collection by the nature of the place where it was built, including works from a Chinese and Western tradition, or works that are at the confluence of both traditions.
The exhibition is organised in four sections: ‘A Western Tradition in Macao – 19th Century’, ‘Views of Europeans on China – Late 19th Century’, ‘Calendars and Posters – Early 20th Century’ and ‘Propaganda – Mid 20th Century’. The works presented use different media such as oil paintings, drawings, watercolours, gouache, posters, and sculptures.
Even though progressively, as the world entered the 20th century, technological, philosophical and cultural changes opened opportunities for women to play active roles socially and within the artistic avant-garde, the reality is that women served different ideologies within a patriarchal society. Art served as a way to reinforce the values about the role of women, but it also served to express alternative views. The narrative created in this exhibition presents simultaneously the conservative values, considered as to be more decent, as well as the more progressive views which were also understood as pure decadence of traditional values, through different chronological periods, within the specificities of the Macao Museum of Art collection.
Time : 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Price : Free
