Date of Award

4-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Art History and Visual Culture

Department

Art

First Advisor

Trent Olsen

Second Advisor

Steven J. Cody

Third Advisor

Melissa Elmes

Abstract

This thesis examines the work of Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) through a feminist art historical lens, challenging long-standing interpretations of her female nudes as inherently resistant to the conventions of Western art. Structured as a three-part lecture series, the project situates Valadon within a visual tradition in which women have been overwhelmingly represented by men, arguing that her engagement with the nude remains embedded in the same systems of objectification it is often said to subvert. Lecture One establishes the historical framework by tracing enduring archetypes of femininity, demonstrating how representations of women have functioned as projections of gendered power. Lecture Two turns to Valadon’s own work, critically reassessing feminist scholarship that positions her nudes as resistant, and arguing instead that such interpretations often rely on overstated distinctions that fail to account for the persistence of patriarchal visual structures. Drawing on feminist theory and contemporary psychological research on representation, the project further contends that the continued prioritization of the female nude—even within feminist discourse—reinforces limited, body-centered definitions of female identity. In response, Lecture Three shifts focus to Valadon’s lesser-studied paintings of clothed women, proposing these works as a more substantive site of feminist potential.

Research Highlights

  • The Problem: Traditional feminist art history often focuses narrowly on Suzanne Valadon's female nudes as the primary site of agency, which risks reinforcing patriarchal systems that measure female value through bodily display and objectification. 

  • The Method: This art history thesis utilizes a three-part lecture series framework, integrating feminist theory, close visual analysis of Valadon's paintings (1892–1928), and contemporary psychological research on representation and self-image. 

  • Qualitative Finding: Valadon’s representations of clothed women—such as The Blue Room and Young Girl Crocheting—offer a more radical feminist potential than her nudes by foregrounding intellectual presence and human interiority beyond the male gaze; her nudes often remain embedded in inherited patriarchal systems of visibility despite their unidealized forms.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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