Standing Female Nude

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New York. Hirschl & Adler Galleries. "Second Williams College Alumni Loan Exhibition: In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Williams College Museum of Art and Professor S. Lane Faison, Jr.," April 1–24, 1976, no. 66 (as "Woman with Wine Glass," 1911). William Innes Homer. Alfred Stieglitz and the American Avant-Garde. Boston, 1977, pp. 62, 65, fig. 32.

Duffy’s themes include language and the representation of reality; the construction of the self; gender issues; contemporary culture; and many different forms of alienation, oppression and social inequality. She writes in everyday, conversational language, making her poems appear deceptively simple. With this demotic style she creates contemporary versions of traditional poetic forms - she makes frequent use of the dramatic monologue in her exploration of different voices and different identities, and she also uses the sonnet form. Duffy is both serious and humorous, often writing in a mischievous, playful style - in particular, she plays with words as she explores the way in which meaning and reality are constructed through language. In this, her work has been linked to postmodernism and poststructuralism, but this is a thematic influence rather than a stylistic one: consequently, there is an interesting contrast between the postmodern content and the conservative forms.

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Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Representative Modern Masters," April 17–May 9, 1920, no. 196 (one of the sevent untitled Matisse drawings lent by Stieglitz, either no. 153, 154, 155, 158, or 159). The critical reception of Carol Ann Duffy’s “Standing Female Nude” has been largely positive, with many critics praising the poem’s exploration of the female body and the artist’s gaze. Some have noted the poem’s feminist themes and its critique of the objectification of women in art. However, others have criticized the poem for its graphic descriptions and its use of the female body as a metaphor for artistic creation. Despite these criticisms, “Standing Female Nude” remains a powerful and thought-provoking work that continues to resonate with readers and critics alike. The Poem’s Contribution to Feminist Discourse Stacey B. Epstein. Inheriting Cubism: The Impact of Cubism on American Art, 1909-1936. Exh. cat., Hollis Taggart Galleries. New York City, 2001, p. 25, ill. Barbara Rose. "Jasper Johns: The 'Tantric Details'." American Art 7 (autumn 1993), pp. 52–53, fig. 7. George Heard Hamilton. "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), p. 379.

Jakob Rosenberg. Great Draughtsmen from Pisanello to Picasso. Cambridge, Mass., 1959, pp. xxiv, 127, fig. 232b.The speaker, through a stream-of-consciousness style narration, explains how the artist directs her “Belly nipple arse” into the “window light.” It is the artist’s goal now to take her “color” and move it to the canvas. He directs her to move right and to “be still.” The speaker attempts to reconcile her situation and how she feels about the position she is in. The poem is divided into six stanzas, each with varying lengths. This creates a sense of fragmentation and disconnection, reflecting the disjointed nature of the model’s experience as she is objectified and scrutinized by the artist. The poem begins with the speaker stating that she is working in one of the only ways she can, as a model. She is in the middle of a long session, of posing for an artist that the world thinks is a genius. She considers the future when her painting is going to be hanging in a gallery or museum. The speaker knows that then, those who normally shun her, the social elite, are going to “coo” over her image.” She feels disdainful towards them and the higher principles they claim to appreciate. In the first stanza of this piece the speaker begins by informing the reader that she has been standing “Six hours like this.” Within the next few lines, it becomes clear that the speaker is an artist’s model, a woman in this case, who is posing nude for an artist. She also tells the reader that she is not being paid a huge sum, only “a few francs.” This gives a little more context to the poem, placing it in France, likely sometime in the early 1900s.

Joseph Low (Pepe) Karmel. "Picasso's Laboratory: The Role of his Drawings in the Development of Cubism, 1910–14." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1993, vol. 1, p. 65; vol. 3, appendix 1, pp. 382–83, 439 n. 24; vol. 4, figs. 53, 54. Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 47.Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Standing Female Nude” has made a significant contribution to feminist discourse. The poem explores the objectification of women in the art world and the power dynamics between the artist and the model. Duffy’s use of the first-person narrative voice of the model allows readers to empathize with her experience of being reduced to a mere object for the artist’s gaze. The poem also highlights the economic exploitation of women in the art industry, as the model is paid a meager sum for her labor while the artist profits from her image. By shedding light on these issues, Duffy’s poem challenges the patriarchal norms that have long dominated the art world and encourages a more equitable representation of women in art. The Poem’s Message and Themes The practicality of the model is reinforced by the start and the finish of the poem. How does it begin and end? With money. At first, the model goes, "Six hours like this for a few francs." In the final two lines, money is still the focus: "I say / Twelve francs and get my shawl."

These people, in real life, have no regard for her or the role she plays in society, but as soon as she is elevated through a male artist’s brush to the walls of a gallery she is the subject of admiration. These drawings were bought by the Royal Academy in 1864 shortly after the death of the artist, William Mulready, as the Council felt 'assured that they could not place before the Students of the Life School finer examples to guide them in their study'. The Victorian art critic F. G. Stephens suggested that this set of drawings were among the best of Mulready's 'highly characteristic' studies.Thierry de Duve in Mondrian. Ed. Brigitte Léal. Exh. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 2010, p. 46, fig. 2 (color). Duffy’s poem also draws on the historical context of the art world, referencing the works of famous artists such as Titian and Rubens, who were known for their depictions of the female form. However, Duffy’s poem challenges the traditional male gaze and offers a new perspective on the female nude.