Although undefined as such, feminist art dates back much further than the Victorian Period. While there is neither time nor space to delve into the details of these early works, it seems important to mention that female issues, such as childbirth, were addressed in art long before any sort of women's liberation movement. It may not have been art created by women, but the female existence was not ignored. Females started getting noticed as artists in the late 18th century, but it wasn't until the Victorian era that progress began. Feminist art in the Victorian Period varies in meaning, but the styles of early sculptresses and painters did not start to take on their own unique forms until later in the movement. In the beginning, the critics and males in the field focused on the women artists more readily than the actual art itself. Female art wasn't taken seriously, nor were the messages the artists attempted to send. Although subject matter, such as pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, were lightly brushed on in the Victorian period, it wasn't until the 20th century that explicit depictions of these events began to appear in art forms.
Focusing more on the artists themselves, critics of the time chose not to notice the actual content or meaning behind the pieces of art women made. Instead, their gender or race actually put the art itself in the background, which caused problems for the effectiveness of the artwork. In the case of Harriet Hosmer, a sculptress in the mid-1800's, rumors spread that her work was not actually her own. She was accused of having assistants that did the actual chiseling and hard labor that went into her most famous piece, Zenobia in Chains. Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, led a revolt against the Roman Empire, and is depicted in chains as a general commentary on the female condition. While there was no tangible proof that these accusations were made because of her gender, Hosmer insisted that they were, and evidence today supports her claim. (Chicago 42) Another sculptress who suffered the burdens of not only her gender, but her race as well, was Edmonia Lewis. She was of Native American and African descent, and that fact took away from the focus of her art. Her most famous piece, Hagar, was barely recognized for its controversial subject, Abraham's Biblical concubine, which she meant to serve as a form of rebellion. Unfortunately, the rebellious statement was overshadowed by her racial background and gender. She always strived for the notice of her work, rather than herself, but had no control over the actualities of her situation. While both of these women seemed to get lost in the mix of obscure artists, due to their lack of individual style or flavor, they were both inspirational to the feminist art movement that occurred in the 1970's. (Chicago 42) They focused their subjects on controversial female figures in history, but did not live to see the effectiveness of their work, or the manner in which they inspired the women of the future.
Judy Chicago, an artist from the 1970's who was influenced by Hosmer and Lewis, created a huge table of place settings for her masterpiece. She created 39 different plates, each shaped like an intricate vulva, and each representing an important, but overshadowed woman in history. Chicago said that her, "primary aim was to celebrate women's achievements in the face of all odds.Ó (Chicago 45) Her piece, entitled, The Dinner Party, turned the focus back to the art itself, rather than the artist, and as a result, became one of the most important pieces in American art to date. (Chicago 45)
Along with the sculptresses of the 19th century were the two dimensional artists--the painters. The most radical art movement of the Victoria Era was that of the Impressionists. The two most famous female impressionists were Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. While both lived in France, Cassatt was actually from America. She was born into a wealthy family, and her artwork depicted life as an aristocrat("Cassatt Bio"). Both she and Morisot were innovative in that their subjects were doing every day tasks, as opposed to sitting still as most female subjects both of the time and previously did. In addition, they treated women as regular people, as opposed to deity (angels or Mary), which was not an entirely new idea, but one that was not mainstream at all. As upper-class artists, these women painted at their leisure, and not to put food on the table. Because of this liberty, they had more freedom with their art, and therefore pushed the lines of interpretation of the female role in society. Even though their images were of upper-class women, they were intimate and emotive, and they broke ground for female artists who felt intimidated by the male-dominated field.
Much less famous was a young artist named Eva Gonzales. She lived a short life from 1849 to 1883, but her portrait of her sister Jeanne in the Impressionist style was symbolic of one of the first breaks in the mould of male-dominated portrayals of "reclining women" (Chicago 100-1050). Before and after her innocent, yet emotive piece, Morning Awakening, the reclining female form had been depicted as nude, sexual, and provocative. Naked women with perfectly ideal bodies reclining often lay in sexual positions, giving suggestive looks directly to the viewer, and sometimes even touching their vaginas. Gonzales' subject is fully clothed, and looking off into space blankly, as if she just woke up. She is in her own bed, resting on her own pillow, and there is no sexual connotation to her position at all. With these vast differences in approach, one might assume that her art doesn't belong in the category of reclining women, but that is precisely the point. She took this genre of female depiction, and in a very obvious way, attempted to change the motive of the reclining women. Her attempt was innovative and important, and while nude reclining women are still subjects, the circumstances have changed, because now women have entered the field, depicting other women, and even themselves as naked recliners.
A curious character in the feminist art world, with a life spanning from 1874 to 1970, Romaine Brooks was able to feel the influences from many artists at different levels of progress. A member of a lesbian and bisexual circle of artists in Paris, she depicted her female recliner as a beautifully provocative woman. One might argue that her depiction was in line with the male perception because of her sexuality, but the piece speaks further. It appears that the subject of her piece, Les Azalees Blanches, is interested in something other than the viewer, and her confidence is something unique to Brooks' piece. She took the sexual approach to rival her male peers, not to follow them.
Laura Aguilar, a lesbian photographer of the present day, chose to shoot a nude reclining self-portrait in 1991, entitled, In Sandy's Room. This photo deviates entirely from any sort of reclining female depiction, first because she does not have the ideal body, but mostly because the purpose is not to please the viewer, but to provoke him or her. Her picture serves the purpose of realism, but also as a window to the artist herself. About this portrait, she writes, "Although one museum curator tried to convince me that this is an image of blissful self-contentment, my experience of lesbian existence doesn't allow me to accept such an interpretation. This is an image of diminished expectations.Ó (Chicago 104) No one is quite sure what she means by "diminished expectations,Ó but it is obviously related to her sexuality. As a lesbian, her worldview is different from heterosexuals, and therefore, her self-image is different. It could be a portrayal of her negative self-image, but it could also mean that she has stopped trying to resist something in her life. Women have struggled with poor self-images since the beginning of time, and Aguilar's self-portrait demonstrates that pain perfectly.
Beyond the reclining women images are the images of mothers, both expecting and current. Kathe Kollwitz, a German whose husband cared for the working class of Berlin, depicted a pregnant woman in her image, Portraits of Misery III. By "mak[ing] a weary pregnant working-class woman a symbol of endurance,Ó Kollwitz makes a political statement (Chicago 51). She uses this woman to demonstrate the courage and responsibility one must have to give birth, especially in compromising circumstances. Conversely, in 1978, Alice Neel depicted her pregnant friend as alert and aware; nude on a chair, Margaret Evans sits. She is wide-eyed, and about face. Neel's picture is meant to shock, rather than provoke sympathetic emotion, but it still represents an expecting mother accurately. One can never be too sure that her pregnancy will be easy or run smoothly, and this portrait displays that emotion well. Frida Kahlo knew this fear all too well. An artist in the 1930's, she only began painting after a serious bus accident led to a number of miscarries. Her painting, Henry Ford Hospital or the Flying Bed, shows her anguish and fear that she will never have children. She uses explicit images of a dead fetus and pelvic bones, and also feminine imagery of a dead flower lying on the floor.
There are so many different manners in which one can approach feminist art. The subjects covered here are only a start to what is available on this subject matter. Lesbian art, art based on female genitalia, Female Labor, and many more subjects can be examined. All are fascinating, because to see what artists felt in the Victorian period as compared to what artists feel now is a great learning experience. Feminist art has come a long way from the Victorian period, but not yet reached its destination. While freedom of expression is much more available today than it was then, there are still stigmas put on certain art forms and subject matter. It is important that we see art as free expression, and embrace the freedom that so many of these women strived for.
Mary Cassatt Biography www.hearts-ease.org/csi-bin/gallery_bio.csi?ID=7
Berthe Morisot Biography www.hearts-ease.org/csi-bin/gallery_bio.cgi?ID=36
Chicago, Judy and Edward Lucie-Smith Women And Art: Contested Territory.Watson- Guptil Pub. New York: 1999.
This page was written by Toni Sicola, and is maintained by Melanie Ulrich.
This page was last updated Saturday, 18-May-2002 08:28:11 CDT