Why Have There Been No Great Women Sculptors?

In this essay, sculptor and critic Odawara Nodoka (b. 1985) examines the relative invisibility of women sculptors, with a particular focus on Japanese artists and contexts.
The title of course references the seminal 1971 text by American art historian Linda Nochlin, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” (translated into Japanese by Matsuoka Kazuko and published in the May 1976 issue of Bijutsu techō magazine), which exposed the institutional obstacles that have historically led to the marginalization of female artists. While inspired by Nochlin’s work, Odawara begins by citing the earlier piece’s limitations—namely, its focus on (Western) women painters—as the motivation for writing her own essay. Odawara builds on Nochlin’s line of critical questioning by highlighting yet further imbalances experienced by women sculptors, compared even to women working in other art genres.
Originally published in the August 2021 issue of Bijutsu techo, a special feature on “Women and Art History” that aimed to reconsider Japanese postwar/contemporary art history from a feminist perspective, Odawara’s essay was thus foregrounded by a great reckoning over gender bias in the Japanese art world. In 2018, a group of students in the sculpture department at Tama Art University called attention to the gender imbalance across faculty and student bodies at the nation’s art universities. Moreover, an online survey conducted in 2021 by the newly launched Hyōgen no Genba Chōsa-dan (“Investigation Team for the Arts”) revealed rampant sexual harassment in the art world.
In addition to her artistic practice, Odawara has written actively on a variety of social and political issues through the lens of contemporary sculpture history, including a monograph, Kindai wo chōkoku/chōkoku suru (“Sculpting/Overcoming Modernity”), published by Kōdansha in 2021.

Title

Why Have There Been No Great Women Sculptors?

Author

Odawara Nodoka

First published

2021

Translation

Kato Kumiko

Editing

Nakajima Izumi, Meg Taylor

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

Feminism and/in Japanese Art

First Posted Online

2023-03-31

Last modified

2023-03-31

© 2022 Odawara Nodoka + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

The newly published English translations on this website (https://artplatform.go.jp) can be used without permission only for the purposes of education, research, critique, survey, and the like. English translations cannot be copied for the purpose of sale or distribution. You must comply with the Rules Governing the Use of the English Translations.

Citation

Footnote/endnote: Odawara Nodoka, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Sculptors?," trans. Kato Kumiko, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted March 31, 2023, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202211.

Bibliography: Odawara Nodoka. "Why Have There Been No Great Women Sculptors?" Translated by Kato Kumiko. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted March 31, 2023. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202211.

Original Japanese Edition

Odawara Nodoka, “Naze josei no daichōkokuka wa arawarenai noka” in Bijutsu techo, vol. 73. no.1089 (August 2021): 92–97.

小田原のどか「なぜ女性の大彫刻家は現れないのか」『美術手帖』73巻1089号（2021年8月）、92–97頁。

National Diet Library(NDL)

https://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/031604361

ISBN