Pauline Boty

Biography
First British Female Pop-Artist
Feminist Agenda?
References

Biography

Pauline Veronica Boty was born on March 6th 1938 in London. [1] In the early stages of her live she took part in various educational programs, which ultimately led her to an artistic career. In 1954 Boty Received a scholarship to the Wimbledon School of Art, followed by her receiving her Intermediate Diploma in Lithography in 1956 and the National Diploma in Art and Design in 1958. [2] Besides practicing visual arts, Pauline Boty was a well known actress. From 1962 to 1965 she starred in several film productions such as in an Episode of The Frantic Rebel in 1964 or in Day of the Ragnarok in January 1965. [3] Ultimately on the first of July 1966, just 5 months after Boty gave birth to her only daughter, Pauline Boty died at the age of 28.[4]

First British Female Pop-Artist

Pauline Boty’ first paintings portray rather surrealistic sujets, before in the 60’s they attainted characteristics that one would ascribe to the Pop-Art movement, all while staying true to her pop culture imagery. [5] Despite Boty not being well known for her art even until today, she is nonetheless regarded as the first female artist of British Pop art.[6]

Feminist Agenda?

While art critics are at one about Boty being one of the first women in pop-art, there is a disparity of opinions on her being a feminist artist. In Pop’s Ladies and Bad Girls: Axell, Pauline Boty and Rosalyn Drexler [7] Kalliopi Minioudaki claims that Pauline Boty is in fact a relevant forerunner of the feminist art movement despite the little exposure that she receives until today. (p.406): [8] Others such as James Hall view Boty as a "[…] fringe pop-artist […].", thus as one who insinuates feminism, but does not follow a clear feminist agenda. (p.413): [9]

Examples of works, which suggest feminist features are The Only Blonde in the World and It’s A Man’s world I & II.

The Only Blonde in the World was created in 1963. Its imagery is not only one that plays with the male fascination of Marylin Monroe, but also one with which Boty puts herself into the history of a male dominated sujet.[10] Minioudaki examines Boty's use of pop cultural references in the painting and concludes the artists discontent with gender expectations that were assigned to women in the post-war period e.g them being housewives and/or sexual objects. [11] The painting could thus be read as a cultural critique, which simultaneously reveals the subjective wish for the retrieval of: “[…] women’s neglected right to pleasure.“ (p.406): [12].

One year later in 1964 Boty painted It’s a Man’s World I which she completed by creating an additional painting titled It’s a Man’s World II. (view part one here: [13] part two here: [14] Part one portrays a total of 16 individual paintings. Some of them showing well known male protagonists such as Elvis Presley, John Lennon or Albert Einstein, while others depict and allude to male dominated professions such as the Air Force or Head of States. [15] and [16] Similar to the technique of the first part, Boty aligns and arranges different painting slots in It’s a Man’s Wold II. In contrast to the male dominated portrayal of the first part, the imagery of this painting is filled with depictions of the female nude. Unlike the portrayal of male protagonists, who are known for their accomplishments, it seems as though the protagonists behind the bodies ought to remain unknown behind their bodies. [17]

References

Unknown, Sources: It’s a Man’s World I. Pauline Boty - Pop art pioneer. URL: https://paulineboty.org/its-a-mans-world-i-key/, Accessed December 28th 2021.

Unknown, Timeline: Pauline Boty - Pop art pioneer. Pauline Boty - Pop art pioneer. URL: https://paulineboty.org/its-a-mans-world-i-key/, Accessed December 28th 2021.

Unknown, Pauline Boty - The Only Blonde in the World (1963). May 2007. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boty-the-only-blonde-in-the-world-t07496, Accessed December 28th 2021.

Kalliopi Minioudaki. Pop’s Ladies and Bad Girls: Axell, Pauline Boty and Rosalyn Drexler. Oxford Art Journal, vol. 30, no. 3, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 402–30, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4500072, Accessed December 28th 2021.

Unkown, Antenna: Remembering the Brit-Pop Bardot. christies.com, June 5th 2018. URL: https://www.christies.com/features/Antenna-Remembering-the-Brit-Pop-Bardot-8762-1.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-8762 , Accessed December 30th 2021.