Britiany Daugherty

This catalogue highlights the character of Rajput women in art through representation, creation and commissioning in Rājasthānī paintings. The focus of the research will explore a correlation between circa 18th-century French women and the women of the northern Indian state of Rājasthān in works of art.  In understanding the similarities of gender in art between Rajput and French women other parallels form between Rajput court paintings and French royal paintings.  Connections in the identity of gender between the two seemingly foreign types are evident by examining the primary paintings in the Rājasthān State Archives and the Rococo style paintings.  Books pertaining to the Rajput miniature style help to illuminate the background of the themes while articles pertaining to specific Rococo artists’ styles illuminate similar themes in French paintings.  The themes highlighted pertain to the representation of these women as beautified objects to behold, they are a pleasure to the male viewer because of their idealized cosmetic composition and they are often involved in sexual desires as lustful lovers. Not only are the themes common they are also persisting through centuries.  Overall there are connections made through the direct examination of paintings that exhibit parallel themes in the identity of gender for women whether it is in Europe or Asia.

My thesis explores the religious traditions associated with the women of Rājasthān, mainly during the eighteenth-century, through visual media.  In my search to understand how Hindu scripture has influenced Rajput painting I uncovered an institution of many common themes that have been embedded into the traditional Indian aesthetic for millennia.  Within these poetical traditions I questioned the status of women in a male dominated society, and while it may seem that women take a reduced role in Rajput culture, even demoralized in many ways; there is an error in judgment when the Western lens is used to understand these deeply complex paintings.  The status of the Supreme Goddess Rādhā is the central figure in many of these religious paintings and it is how Rajput women relate to her charms that elevates their overall status, even in a patriarchal society. Through the Hindu scriptures pertaining to the love of Krishna and Rādhā sexuality is seen as more than just simple pleasure, its depiction is instead necessary to show the union of the human soul with God.  My presentation looks to show the beautiful paintings of the Rajput tradition, explain how Rādhā’s image has become an archetype and how through her relations with Krishna she becomes a charmer of the world.  It is then that the transference of Rādhā’s charms to mortal women is seen as women are depicted not individually but with the same archetypal face that is associated with Rādhā.

Kim Dingle’s artwork challenges how the gender and behavior of girls are generally acknowledged in society.  The analysis of her Study for the Perfect Suckerpunch painting will explore the overall sociological implications of what it means to be a little girl and why this painting, along with her other works, is in opposition to a socially accepted female gender identity.  This accepts the sociological concept of ‘doing’ gender, and the subsequent idea of gender performing, where it is concluded that gender is learned, socially constructed and conclusively understood to dictate male and female behavior.  Throughout Dingle’s body of work, pre-adolescent girls create a dualism of female gender norms, where they, in appearance, display the markers of femininity in their fancy dresses, but they are acting like little boys, that is they are violent, mischievous, angry and indecent in their behavior.  While their appearance preserves the female gender norm, their behavior is in opposition to their gender norms.  Gender is the main focus in Dingle’s work, but there is an additional dimension created with the depiction of race among the little girls.  Gender is understood as socially constructed, but race is another sociological factor that informs behavior.  The paintings and installations of Dingle’s little girls all form a body of work that makes it possible for the viewer to confront their ideologies regarding gender and confront what ‘doing’ gender really means.