Thanks for directing me to
the list. While I am not overwhelmed about the Mona Lisa being on the
list, I am a bit taken aback that Berthe Morisot is the only woman in the top
one hundred. I'm sure we can all suggest paintings by women throughout
history that could hold a place in the top one hundred. I post this not
as a "pc" agenda. I am a painter myself and look for nutrition in
paintings that represent a woman's perspective and voice. I'm not
just advocating "Artemesia holds her own" with other baroque painters."
What I mean is, we should question what the criteria are for defining what
makes a great painting.
I love most of the paintings
on the list. I don't need to denigrate someone else's culture by
calling it irrelevant, but what are the parameters operant in this system of
deciding the most commodious works? As librarians, we're going to
help shape the future by asking these questions, I hope. Of course, we
also seek to while preserve and respect the past and more
traditional viewpoints. Anything less would be
censorship.
(I am reading a great book,
We Weren't Modern Enough... about women artists in Weimar Germany which
touches on the relationship of visual aesthetics and politics and
gender. ) Just wanted to throw that out there.
Jean
Boggs
Pratt Institute
Library
Library Clerk and Library
Science Student