Not for ogling': forget Titian, Botticelli and the male fantasists only women can paint great female nudes

"If you want to paint, put your clothes back on! That was how Carolee Schneemann summarised the critical response to her 1975 performance piece Interior Scroll, which she had performed nude standing on a gallery table. After making a series of life model poses, she removed a scroll from her vagina and began to read her manifesto. In doing so, Schneemann asked an important question: What does it mean for a female artist to be both the artist and the life model?"

"The female nude, as depicted and objectified by the male artist, has dominated western art for centuries. Despite decades of feminist efforts, that interaction between the great male genius and his female model sometimes muse remains a subject of perennial fascination. To enter a gallery, or to open a university textbook, is to be confronted with a parade of idealised naked females by male artists from Rubens, Titian and Botticelli to Picasso and De Kooning."

"When Gwen John stood in her bedroom in 1909 sketching herself nude, her body reflected in a wardrobe mirror, what was she thinking? At the time, she was in the midst of a passionate, unhappy affair with Auguste Rodin, for whom she frequently posed. To pose for herself, though, was different, not to mention daring. John struggled to be her own muse, as opposed to Rodin's, but this image shows her free from the male gaze."

Carolee Schneemann performed Interior Scroll in 1975 nude on a gallery table, removing a scroll from her vagina and reading a manifesto while posing as a life model. The performance questioned what it means for a female artist to act as both artist and life model—both image and image-maker. The female nude, depicted and objectified by male artists, has long dominated Western art, creating enduring tensions between male genius and the female muse. Reactions range from acclaim as groundbreaking to accusations of pornography. Historical and contemporary examples include Gwen John’s self-portrait and Yoko Ono’s infant-perspective portraits.

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