존 싱어 사전트 초상화에 나타난 성적 모호성: 댄디 초상화를 중심으로 (Sexual Ambiguity in John Singer Sargent’s Portrait Works: Centered to his portraitures of dandies)

서지정보

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· 수록지 정보 : 미술사연구 / 27호 / 415 ~ 446페이지
· 저자명 : 이혜진

초록

John Singer Sargent is one of the most prestigious portraitists of the 19th century,and his works are known for depicting the people of high society. His contemporaries noticed the masculine tone of his drawn characters, and this interpretation has continued to receive support into the present. This thesis dealt first with the critical reviews of Sargent’s works beginning in his own era. His contemporaries emphasized the masculine features of portrayed characters. This study examined whether this view was due to the influence of the cultural signs of the 19th century, placing Sargent’s works in their socio-cultural context. This study also aims to highlight the ‘sexual ambiguity’ found in his works rather than simply regarding his works as masculine through an analysis of the sexual ambiguity of the socio-cultural context as viewed by 20th century thinkers. First of all, Sargent’s contemporaries admired the highly realistic features of his works and noted that Sargent conveyed people with a certain air of masculinity even when portraying women. However, regarding his portrayed characters as masculine is the result of the representation of the masculinity that was rampant in his time. In fact, the people in his works have a certain air of sexual ambiguity, and masculinity is not innate. This study scrutinized Sargent’s sexual ambiguity in detail by examining his individual work. Sargent’s ‘New Women’ portraits and male nudes display ambiguous sexualities, deviating from previous dichotomous sexual identity and stereotypes. After this, Sargent’s dandy portraits will be discussed as an extension of this sexual ambiguity. ‘Dandy’ is a term that refers to a type of male in vogue in the 19th century. The dandy expressed his identity through his external appearance. Sargent continuously expressed his interest in portraying dandies, and this can be traced from his early phases till even later in his life when he officially declared himself done with portraitures. His dandy portraits emphasize the extravagant, overly-ornamented clothes and artificially posed postures. This study also highlighted the theatrical and performance features found in Sargent’s dandy portraitures. The figure of the dandy at the end of the era was ambiguous and had an avantgarde air. This is because the dandy, who was male, openly displayed an interest in dressing up and in adornment, areas which were traditionally regarded as being the female realm. In this respect, this thesis attempted to expand the discussion by stressing gender-related issues in dandyism. The fin de siècle dandy is visually portrayed in Sargent’s dandy portraits. Sargent’s W. Graham Robertson(1894) is the best-known dandy portrait, displaying a floating, unfixed gender. Robertson’s pale complexion could be interpreted as a feature of the mask play, which is relevant to the ‘masquerade’ theory of Joan Riviere. The female identity as a mask has the same air of ‘performativity’ as femininity itself; likewise, the masculinity of the dandy could be interpreted as a performative mask. This can be further discussed in the view of ‘performativity’, the concept proposed by Judith Butler. According to Butler, gender does not actually exist but rather ‘is performed’ by repeating the performativity of the social context and the use of the body as a medium. This special feature of gender allows us to understand the ambiguous, floating sexual identity in Sargent’s dandy portraitures. In this regard, the performative gender feature is the theoretical basis for interpreting Sargent’s Madame X(1884) as a female dandy portraiture. This study is significant in reexamining Sargent in the light of socio-cultural contexts from the aspect of gender discourse. This study departed from the previous views of Sargent as a portraitist or an American impressionist. Rather, the ambiguous sexual identity in Sargent’s visual works were discussed in view of the socio-context, going further than simply relating it to the artist’s personal interests or tastes. This study highlighted gender issues in Sargent’s works by placing his works in a socio-cultural context. Gender discourse is fully explored while applying the concepts of masquerade and performativity, which is a deviation from a simple regarding of gender as something innate and congenital.

영어초록

John Singer Sargent is one of the most prestigious portraitists of the 19th century,and his works are known for depicting the people of high society. His contemporaries noticed the masculine tone of his drawn characters, and this interpretation has continued to receive support into the present. This thesis dealt first with the critical reviews of Sargent’s works beginning in his own era. His contemporaries emphasized the masculine features of portrayed characters. This study examined whether this view was due to the influence of the cultural signs of the 19th century, placing Sargent’s works in their socio-cultural context. This study also aims to highlight the ‘sexual ambiguity’ found in his works rather than simply regarding his works as masculine through an analysis of the sexual ambiguity of the socio-cultural context as viewed by 20th century thinkers. First of all, Sargent’s contemporaries admired the highly realistic features of his works and noted that Sargent conveyed people with a certain air of masculinity even when portraying women. However, regarding his portrayed characters as masculine is the result of the representation of the masculinity that was rampant in his time. In fact, the people in his works have a certain air of sexual ambiguity, and masculinity is not innate. This study scrutinized Sargent’s sexual ambiguity in detail by examining his individual work. Sargent’s ‘New Women’ portraits and male nudes display ambiguous sexualities, deviating from previous dichotomous sexual identity and stereotypes. After this, Sargent’s dandy portraits will be discussed as an extension of this sexual ambiguity. ‘Dandy’ is a term that refers to a type of male in vogue in the 19th century. The dandy expressed his identity through his external appearance. Sargent continuously expressed his interest in portraying dandies, and this can be traced from his early phases till even later in his life when he officially declared himself done with portraitures. His dandy portraits emphasize the extravagant, overly-ornamented clothes and artificially posed postures. This study also highlighted the theatrical and performance features found in Sargent’s dandy portraitures. The figure of the dandy at the end of the era was ambiguous and had an avantgarde air. This is because the dandy, who was male, openly displayed an interest in dressing up and in adornment, areas which were traditionally regarded as being the female realm. In this respect, this thesis attempted to expand the discussion by stressing gender-related issues in dandyism. The fin de siècle dandy is visually portrayed in Sargent’s dandy portraits. Sargent’s W. Graham Robertson(1894) is the best-known dandy portrait, displaying a floating, unfixed gender. Robertson’s pale complexion could be interpreted as a feature of the mask play, which is relevant to the ‘masquerade’ theory of Joan Riviere. The female identity as a mask has the same air of ‘performativity’ as femininity itself; likewise, the masculinity of the dandy could be interpreted as a performative mask. This can be further discussed in the view of ‘performativity’, the concept proposed by Judith Butler. According to Butler, gender does not actually exist but rather ‘is performed’ by repeating the performativity of the social context and the use of the body as a medium. This special feature of gender allows us to understand the ambiguous, floating sexual identity in Sargent’s dandy portraitures. In this regard, the performative gender feature is the theoretical basis for interpreting Sargent’s Madame X(1884) as a female dandy portraiture. This study is significant in reexamining Sargent in the light of socio-cultural contexts from the aspect of gender discourse. This study departed from the previous views of Sargent as a portraitist or an American impressionist. Rather, the ambiguous sexual identity in Sargent’s visual works were discussed in view of the socio-context, going further than simply relating it to the artist’s personal interests or tastes. This study highlighted gender issues in Sargent’s works by placing his works in a socio-cultural context. Gender discourse is fully explored while applying the concepts of masquerade and performativity, which is a deviation from a simple regarding of gender as something innate and congenital.

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