Emanuel Marques
Post 3
Art and Women
4/22/2020
Georgia O’Keefe
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| Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keefe nude, 1918 |
Georgia O'Keefe, like many women artists, had to look within themselves for empowerment as they were, at times, rejected or oppressed among the art community for their work. At the time, radical feminists were surging who were using “androgyny” of dress to empower other women by “masculinizing” women’s fashion. O’Keefe’s who adopted this fashion movement, demonstrated herself as being a strong example of self-empowerment through her artwork and her body. Much of O’Keefe’s work involved large colorful flowers, along with landscapes. It made her clear mark on American Modernism, given the visibility that a lot of her work received throughout the world. O’Keefe found much of her motivation in herself and sought to pave a path for many more women artists who would follow her. In an interview, O'Keefe said the following: “Referring to them as 'the boys,' she later commented that "The men liked to put me down as the best woman painter. I think I’m one of the best painters’” (Chadwick 303). O'Keefe's fierce personality and conviction in her work make her a worthy idol to all women as she broke down so many barriers that have oppresses women artists for such a long time. She is truly an inspirational story.
Suzanne Valadon
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| Suzanne Valadon, Grandmother and Young Girl Stepping into the Bath, ~1908 |
Suzanne Valadon’s paintings served to depict the true nature of a woman’s body, which proved themselves to be empowering to women who were forced to maintain an external image of their body that was not realistic. Throughout history, women have always been forced, by societal norms, to present themselves in a way that is most appealing to the male gaze. Valadon's work, which consisted mostly of nudes of women in awkward positions, magnified the reality that the female body is not the unrealistic fantasy that men desired and imposed onto women. Chadwick describes the power of Valadon’s work when she says: “Confronted with Valadon’s powerful nudes, critics were unable to sever the nude from its status as a signifier for male creativity; instead they severed Valadon from her femininity and allowed her to circulate as a pseudo-male, complete with ‘masculine power’ and ‘virility’” (Chadwick 282). Valadon's work empowered women to be comfortable with their bodies and embracing the beautiful reality that each woman possesses. Despite having made significant progress since Valadon’s time, these male-imposed expectations on women’s bodies still exist today.
Romaine Brooks
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| Romaine Brooks, Self-Portrait, 1923 |
Romaine Brooks was also involved in the push for fashion androgyny, in which she focused much of her work on the female spectator. Brooks challenged the status quo as she was a lesbian that cross-dressed, something that at the time was not acceptable. She used her work to empower other women at the time, who were fearful of the repercussions of coming out as a lesbian and cross-dressing, given the many self-portraits that she produced. Similarly, her self-empowerment, despite all the pushback that she received from other artists and society in general, provides an inspiring story for others who are experiencing circumstances in their lives in which they must fight against societal norms. In Brooks’ Self Portrait, she depicts herself as looking to the spectator expressing a fearless emotion, serving as encouragement to women who view this painting also to be courageous.
Frida Kahlo
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| Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with a Monkey, 1938 |
Frida Kahlo, a well-known Mexican painter, serves as a continuous source of empowerment for many women throughout the world. Kahlo’s work empowered women to fight past issues such as race, gender inequality, the objectification of women’s bodies, and many more. Kahlo, from early on in her life, had to fight a battle against Polio and later in her life was involved in a bus accident, which leads her to suffer a life filled with health complications and pain. Kahlo was famous for her many paintings of self-portraits, which offered the viewer a powerful gaze of the artist. Chadwick states to the effect of Kahlo's work when she says: "Kahlo used painting as a means of exploring the reality of her own body and her consciousness of its vulnerability; in many cases, the reality dissolves into a duality, exterior evidence versus interior perception of that reality”(Chadwick 314). Furthermore, through overcoming adversity so early on in her life, along with the relationship with her husband Diego Rivera, she consciously took on the role of portraying the reality of a woman’s body.
Marina Abramovic
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| Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present, 2010 |
Marina Abramovic characterizes the empowering of other women through her performance artwork. One of Abramovic's most memorable performances was at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010, titled The Artist is Present. Long lines of people waited to get the chance to sit in front of Abramovic and shared a stare across a table. Like much more of Abramovic’s performance work, she sought to engage participants emotionally, physically, and in thought, challenging her physical endurance as she sat there for hours on end. It is not every day that a random person can sit across from a famous artist, and one of the fruits of Abramovic's performance was to empower other women through the expression of her body language, presence, and connecting gaze. Abramovic commented on the outcome of The Artist is Present, in a press release on the MoMa’s website stating: "It was [a] complete surprise…this enormous need for humans to have contact" (MoMa website). Accordingly, to Abramovic’s statement, in a time where humans all over the world have gone into self-isolation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, her work emphasizes the impact that a prolonged period of restricted contact with others will have on so many individual’s psychological and physical health.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. “Women, Art, And Society,” Fourth Edition. World of Art. 2007.
Lowton, Shasti. Frida Kahlo: embracing her masculinity. Artuk.org. August 23, 2018.
Link
Marina Abramovic e Ulay - MoMA 2010
Link
MoMA.org(The Artist is Present – Marina Abramovic)
Link
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Americanart.si.edu
Link
The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion of the History of Western Art, Penguin Books, 1998
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