Propped by Jenny Saville: Challenging the Aesthetics of the Female Body and Image

Abstract

 Abstract — Western artists have long dominated human art history, and their aesthetic orientation has constantly influenced the general aesthetic and has become the key to defining mainstream art. They promoted beautiful, delicate, and elegant female figures in the creations, so people's aesthetics of female body images gradually developed toward idealization. For this reason, many feminist artists are committed to changing this situation. Propped , a painting by Jenny Saville, is one of the representatives of feminist artwork. Considered from a feminist perspective, this work critically focuses on the aesthetics of the female body image through its unique reproduction of the woman's body, thereby challenging the male gaze in society and reshaping the narrative of women in art history.