Standing Female Nude

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Duffy’s more disturbing poems also include those such as ‘Education for Leisure’ ( Standing Female Nude) and ‘Psychopath’ ( Selling Manhattan) which are written in the voices of society’s dropouts, outsiders and villains. She gives us insight into such disturbed minds, and into the society that has let them down, without in any way condoning their wrongdoings: ‘Today I am going to kill something. Anything. / I have had enough of being ignored […]’ (‘Education for Leisure’).

The setting of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Standing Female Nude” is a small, cramped studio where the speaker, an artist, is painting a nude model. The studio is described as being “cold” and “dimly lit,” creating a sense of discomfort and unease. The model is also described as being “shivering slightly,” adding to the overall feeling of vulnerability in the setting. The use of such a confined and uncomfortable setting emphasizes the objectification and exploitation of the female body in art, as well as the power dynamic between the artist and model. The Speaker’s Perspective Additionally, the use of enjambment throughout the poem creates a sense of tension and unease. Lines flow into each other, creating a sense of urgency and discomfort. This mirrors the discomfort felt by the model as she is forced to hold uncomfortable poses for the artist’s gaze. In the next lines, she draws a comparison between what the artist values, her “volume,” and what she values, the fact that she needs to eat. As the poem concludes the speaker tries to communicate with the artist. He is unreceptive and tells her to be quiet. When she sees the painting at the end of the day she cannot recognize herself. All those hours and the only thing “Georges” depicted was what he wanted to see. Sarah Greenough, ed. My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Vol. 1, 1915–1933. New Haven, Conn., 2011, pp. 94, 727.Overall, the structure and form of “Standing Female Nude” work together to create a powerful and impactful poem that explores the complexities of beauty and vulnerability in the context of art. The Poem’s Historical and Cultural Context Bernice B. Rose, ed. Picasso, Braque, and Early Film in Cubism. Exh. cat., PaceWildenstein. New York, 2007, p. 36, ill. 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. Art Institute of Chicago. "International Exhibition of Modern Art (The Armory Show)," March 24–April 16, 1913, no. 287.

Emily Braun in Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 150, no. 62, ill. p. 151 (color). Jacob Bean. 100 European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, [1964?], unpaginated, no. 96, ill.

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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 52. Lisa Mintz Messinger in Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, pp. 50, 56, 86, 106, 249, no. 27, ill. (color).

After establishing that the both the painter and the woman are of lower status, the woman goes on to think to herself about the “bourgeoisie [who] will coo at such an image of a river-whore” (line 6). Duffy uses the term “bourgeoisie” with a Marxist sense to highlight the class inequalities in society. According to the speaker the “bourgeoisie” have the privilege of deciding what is considered “Art” (line 7). Duffy capitalizes the word art to reflect the model’s sarcastic attitude towards the opinion of the affluent bourgeois society. Her adult poetry collections are Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; The Other Country (1990); Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year); The World's Wife (1999); Feminine Gospels (2002), a celebration of the female condition; Rapture (2005), winner of the 2005 T. S. Eliot Prize; The Bees (2011), winner of the 2011 Costa Poetry Award and shortlisted for the 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize; The Christmas Truce (2011), Wenceslas: A Christmas Poem (2012), illustrated by Stuart Kolakovic; Dorothy Wordsworth's Christmas Birthday (2014) and Sincerity (2018). Her children's poems are collected in New & Collected Poems for Children (2009). In 2012, to mark the Diamond Jubilee, she compiled Jubilee Lines, 60 poems from 60 poets each covering one year of the Queen's reign. In the same year, she was awarded the PEN/Pinter Prize. John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 2, 1907–1917. New York, 1996, pp. 144, 300, 312, ill.Sarah Greenough. Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs. Vol. 1, 1886–1922. New York, 2002, pp. xxv–xxvi, fig. 18. Marilyn Satin Kushner and Kimberly Orcutt, ed. The Armory Show at 100: Modernism and Revolution. Exh. cat., New-York Historical Society. New York and London, 2013, pp. 454, 467. 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).

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. Roberta J. M. Olson in The Armory Show at 100: Modernism and Revolution. Ed. Marilyn Satin Kushner and Kimberly Orcutt. Exh. cat., New-York Historical Society Museum & Library. New York and London, 2013, p. 308, fig. 144 (color). The title of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, “Standing Female Nude,” is significant in several ways. Firstly, it immediately sets the tone for the poem, suggesting that the subject matter will be a depiction of a woman in a vulnerable position. The use of the word “standing” also implies a sense of strength and resilience, which is juxtaposed with the vulnerability of being nude. Additionally, the use of the word “female” highlights the gendered nature of the subject matter, and the fact that women have historically been objectified and exploited in art. Overall, the title sets the stage for a powerful exploration of the beauty and vulnerability of the female form. The Setting of the Poem Jean Jouvet, ed. Pablo Picasso, der Zeichner: Dreihundert Zeichnungen und Graphiken, 1893–1972. Zurich, 1989, p. 8, ill. In the poem “Standing Female Nude”, Carol Ann Duffy gives a new perspective on society through the eyes of this female prostitute. The poem challenges the concept of contemporary art by presenting it through the voice of a lower class woman. Duffy uses the speaker to demonstrate the class injustices inherent in the society as well as the issues raised in the objectification of women. From the beginning of the poem the reader is informed that the woman is of the lower class.

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She is committed to “six hours” work “for a few francs” (line 1). Also, when the speaker states on line 21, “both [the artist and the woman] poor, we make our living how we can. ” The woman sells her body for money because the woman’s only concern is “with the next meal”(line 9) signifying her desperate need of money for survival. While the artist, thought to be Georges Braque, is concerned “with volume [and] space,” (line 8) suggesting how his only concern is the painting. Laura Moure Cecchini. "Baroque Futurism: Roberto Longhi, the Seventeenth ­Century, and the Avant-Garde." Art Bulletin 101 (June 2019), p. 37, fig. 3 (reproduction of Ref. Camera Work 1912). In Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Standing Female Nude,” the role of gender is a central theme. The poem explores the vulnerability and objectification of women in the art world, particularly in the context of the male gaze. The speaker, a female model, is depicted as a passive object, stripped of agency and reduced to her physical appearance. This portrayal highlights the ways in which women are often objectified and commodified in art, as well as in broader society. Additionally, the poem raises questions about the power dynamics at play in the artist-model relationship, and the ways in which gender can influence these dynamics. Overall, the poem offers a powerful critique of the ways in which gender shapes our perceptions of beauty and vulnerability, and the ways in which women are often marginalized and objectified in the art world. The Poem’s Use of Imagery and Metaphor