What Can Paintings Teach Us About British Patriarchy?

Tate Britain is running a fantastic new exhibition, “Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain from 1520 to 1920”. Superbly organised, it shows patriarchal restrictions, sexual puritanism, and feminist resistance.

Drawing on the exhibition and the complementary publication, this essay explores:

• The importance of a loving, supportive husband

• The cult of modesty

• Feminised markets

• Exhibiting amid patriarchal constraints

• Defying gender stereotypes

• Critiquing old boys’ clubs

• Sexually puritanical restrictions

• Modernity and sexist exclusions

As may surmise from these subtitles, paintings tell us a great deal about patriarchy!

Emily Mary Osborn, Nameless and Friendless, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty” (Proverbs: 10:15), 1857 (Tate Britain, London)

The above is my favourite painting from the exhibition, highlighting sexist exclusions.