Post #4

Kruti Patel

Art and Women

Professor Cacoilo

November 28, 2017

Throughout the course of this semester, we discussed various topics when it comes to women artists and women in the art world but the theme that applied to almost every women artist was “feminism.” Women are supposed to act and appear in a certain way. The 5 artists that I picked are Artemisia Gentileschi, Berthe Morisot, Judy Chicago, Frida Kahlo, and Lily Martin Spencer.

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in 1593. She was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a well-known artist in his own right. At the age of 19, Gentileschi was raped by a friend of her father who was supposed to be training her as an artist, this incident inspired her and to her style of painting and her reasons for depicting scenes the way she did. (Parker, Christine) Her first major work was completed at age 17 and was entitled, Susanna and the Elders.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders,1610

 To describe Gentileschi's style of art is to describe a feminist long before her time. Gentileschi commonly used "variations on the popular theme from the Old Testament Apocrypha" (Chadwick, 110) and use "monumental composition, naturalistic rendering and strong contrast of light and shadow, and use of contemporary models" to paint these biblical stories in new ways. (Chadwick, 110) Gentileschi painted the female characters as a strong and independent woman who were strong to refuse men and stand up for themselves. The main example of this would be her work, Judith slaying Holofernes

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1614 

where she showed how Judith was strong enough to kill Holofernes maybe because he did something horrible to her. But we can tell from her face how confident she was that she wasn’t doing anything wrong but maybe just protecting herself. This shows how Gentileschi believed that women could do anything she wanted.

Berthe Morisot was born in 1841. She was one of the greatest impressionists along with Mary Cassatt and were considered one of  "The most important women painters of the 19th century."(WEBSITE WEB MUSEUM MORISOT) Morisot was born into a privileged family and was given lessons from a young age. She was, "included in the group auction [official salons] at the hotel Drouot in 1875, where her painting interior, brought 480 francs, the highest price paid for any painting." (Chadwick, 235) It is important to remember that Morisot lived and worked in a time when women were still struggling for their rights, yet she managed to not only compete but out due to her male colleagues and achieve major success as an artist during that time. Her works mostly focused on “The casual immediacy, straightforward approach to the subject-matter, and feathery brushstrokes," (Chadwick, 238)  Her work Psyche

Berthe Morisot, Psyche,1876

shows all of the themes she used in her paintings. It focuses on a young woman, in her home, looking in a mirror, a very domestic image, but speaks to much more than that. The use of colors and blurred lines shows the woman as concerned by her image that is blurred shows that women had no stand and they were only supposed to please men by their look.This speaks to feminism as it addresses a concern many women still have today over how they are judged for their appearance, not their person.

Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential female artists to ever live. She was  Born in 1907, in Mexico City. Frida survived a horrible traffic accident in her early teens. The accident left permanently scarred. It is from this tragic event that Frida started painting and the accident serves as the motivation behind a majority of her works. The value of her artwork today speaks for itself that she is one of the greatest painters regardless of sex or race to have ever lived. Most of her works were self-portraits or scenes from her own life experience. Her work has also been considered 'Surrealist'," ("A Tribute to Frida Kahlo") Her works often demonstrates pain or sorrow in the form of self-portraits that often directly displays physical abuse to her body. Frida’s work, The Broken Column,

Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944

as it displays all of the prominent trademarks of a Frida Kahlo work. (Chadwick, 288) This piece is a self-portrait of Frida that features multiple important messages. The most important message she is trying to give to her audience was how physically harmed she was. This can be seen in both the cracked column and the dozens of nail depicted sticking to her skin. She painted these to reference the daily pain she lived through after the accident which can be recognized through her tears. Finally, the background of the image strongly references Mexican Folk Art as it depicts the sky and the dessert. (Chadwick, 288)

Lily Martin Spencer is very famous because she shows us how women take on the role of men. In a world where women's gender roles were important; women who stayed home and took care of the family was common. However Lily likes to make paintings where women are breaking away from traditions, they are breaking the chains of their femininity and joining alongside their male counterparts. She also believed in showing women strong and that they can take care of themselves. In her painting War spirit at home,

Lily Martin Spencer, War Spirit at Home, 1866

she shows us how women are no longer following the typical traditions of the society but instead are taking bigger responsibilities of being both the household provider and housewife. We see the women multitasking and learning to balance both their feminine and masculine traits.

Judy Chicago’s art piece, The Dinner Party was very unique.

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979

This was set up to honor the history of women in Western Civilization. There were over 999 important women and their names were grouped around the place settings to symbolize the traditions of women's achievements. Each set was shaped identically to a woman's vagina. This symbolized how women were overtaking the men in society and becoming well known. This was exhibited in 16 venues in 6 countries to an audience of over one million. This piece itself reveals how feminist she was and she also wanted to prove the society that women are no longer behind in any task than men.

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979

WORK CITED

"Morisot, Berthe." WebMuseum. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/morisot/>.

Parker, Christine. "The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi." The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.

"A Tribute to Frida Kahlo »." FRIDA KAHLO WEBSITE. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.fridakahlo.com/>.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

Tobey, Rena. “Art Essay: Lilly Martin Spencer and War Spirit at Home: A Provocative Voice.” Arttimesjournal, 2004, Fall, https://arttimesjournal.com/art/Art_Essays/fall_14_rena_tobey/lilly_martin_spencer.html

Furman, Anna. “The Brooklyn Museum Revisits The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago.” The Cut, 22 Sept. 2017, www.thecut.com/2017/09/brooklyn-museum-revisits-the-dinner-party-Judy-chicago.html