Five Female Artists

The five artists I will be talking about are Laura Callaghan, Anna Maria Siyblla Merian, Alice Walker, Emily Mary Osborn, and Elizabeth Thompson. These women all express different interests in different aspects of life. In everything they do, they tell a story about their feelings, how they portray society, and what they believe is going on in the women community. Due to these women there were many other women artists who were inspired. To have such an influence on other women shows how extraordinary these artists are. 

Laura Callaghan

    In our society today there are my restrictions and standards that women have to go through. Whether it be the kind of job they have, car they drive, or even as simple as how they act. Artist Callaghan has been exploring these contradictions because she deems them inexcusable. Through her work, she addresses social issues going on today. In many of her portraits the women she draws are taking charge in their activities, showing "power, conviction, and notoriety", as Callaghan stated. She has been painting for over five years, and found her passion through her feminist side. The way Callaghan paints her portraits is through water color work. She believes that the more colors that are on display the bigger audience the painting will attract. That is why in her paintings of women, she has them in many different colors expressing themselves. This also correlates to the women in power, and being able to dress and appear however they would prefer. I agree with all the work that Callaghan has done, because for over decades women were told what to do. During the 1900s, they would stay home during the wars, were not allowed to fight with the men, and were also not allowed to vote until years later. Today women are allowed to do anything and everything but are still looked down upon, that is what Callaghan is trying to state through her paintings, and to potentially end the dispute.

• As a child, Anna Maria Sybilla Merian, 

  Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object no. RP-T-1946-73

As a child, Anna Maria Sybilla Merian was the type of girl who did not want to stay home and play with dolls, in fact, she was the type to go hiking or play outside in the dirt all say. Due to this different interest, as she became older she was fascinated with insects, bugs, and all other types of animals. All day she would observe them and study them carefully. That way she would be able to draw them and paint them. Most of her art is based on insects. Her works on insect development and the transformation of insects through the process of metamorphosis contributed to the advance of entomologyin the late 17th and early 18th centuries.This shows that art does not have to be about the nude body, shapes, or what society wants it to be. Maria shows that art is about what someone is passionate about, and in this case, she is passionate about insects.

Alice Walker, Wounded Feelings, 1861

Alice Walker in one of her brilliant paintings, Wounded Feelings, is about a woman at a ball wearing a long and elegant red dress, becoming emotionally upset because she was rejected by a lover. She throws her glove on the ground, and directs her body image away from the man she loves and towards the observer portraying her feelings of hurt. The lover in the background is found talking to another woman who the observer infers is the other woman that the lover choses. The friend of the wounded woman is comforting her in her time of need, showing empathy and compassion. The sense of male domination is emphasized by the figures in the background: the women are seeking to please the men and are shown in positions of vulnerability. This shows that Walker observes men as inconsiderate beings who do not emphasize their true love for women who love them. Her expressions and paintings show that she is showing a huge problem in our society.

Emily Mary Osborn, Nameless and Friendless, 1857

Emily Mary Osborn was among the most successful Victorian women artists. During her time before becoming an artist she took classes, and continued with her art training. She even persuaded her teacher to give her private lessons after class so she could improve. This shows that Osborn was a very dedicated woman who loved art in every way. Besides her art passion, she was also dedicated to find a job in the employment area. She wanted to focus on her art, but also become a working class lady. Due to this desire to paint and work, she painted a masterpiece that illustrated her life, Nameless and Friendsless. This piece of art showed how a woman was trying to make a living out of selling her paintings, while managing to raise her child. The man in the painting shows that he has interest in the painting, but not about the structure, texture, or format of the painting, but by the object in the painting, who is presumably a woman. The man is looking at the paining, hence, the Male Gaze, and also admiring the seller. This shows that women and their art were not taken seriously. Which is what Osborn was trying to portray about society and women figures.

Elizabeth Thompson, Calling the Roll After an Engagement, 1874

Elizabeth Thompson was another unique artist because just like Maria, she only expressed what she believes is art. Thompson did not want to paint nude men or women, animals, or shapes, in fact, she wanted to paint scenes of battle, whether they are after or before the blood massacre. She was interested in such moments that she painted one of them. In her famous painting, Calling the Roll After an Engagement, the painting portrays the aftermath of a battle that includes blood, dead men, soldiers, and weapons. For a woman at that time to be in such a position was astonishing, and it made many men question their masculinity, to have a woman be at such events and to paint them. There were no cameras back then, so Thompson had to look closely at all the men and the scene then later draw it from memory, or even just stay at the scene for a while and draw from there. To be outside in the snow, where a battle has just ended shows commitment from Thompson, because no other artist would be willing to put themselves out there for a painting.