Gender Issues in Art - Coursework Example

Gender Issues in Art Throughout history, women have had difficulty gaining recognition in a man’s world, regardless of their vocations, their accomplishments or their achievements. This is as true of vocations such as doctors and architects as it is true of artists and writers. The primary reason for this grew out of the concepts of women that had been developed throughout time. At first considered insufficiently intelligent to understand the concepts of the world outside the home and only beginning to gain some recognition as viable members of society in centuries leading toward the Victorian period, the idea of woman was still confined to the inner workings of the home and family. The concepts “by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society, could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife – woman. Without them … all was ashes. With them, she was promised happiness and power” (Welter 1966 p. 152). Scholarship has focused on how this ideology was promoted both by women and men, constricting others to ‘fall into line’ if they wished to be accepted in society (Hewitt, 2002). Any attempt to step outside of these bounds, even in terms of artistic expression, one of the few areas in which women could reasonably gain an education, was seen as unfeminine and strongly discouraged. It wasn’t until the 20th century that women first began gaining widespread recognition for their creative visions, but as this paper will show with examples from Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo, this was a tremendous struggle. According to Heller (1987), one of the greatest difficulties in trying to establish the impact of women on the art world is the fact that the available records are erroneous or incomplete. While some records of paintings hint at having been altered, other works have been wrongly credited to the male teachers or relatives of brilliant female artists simply because it was devoutly believed that women were incapable of producing truly great art. Several women resorted to the cloisters as their only means of finding artistic outlets (Barlow, 2001). Nevertheless, there remain images, sketches and written records of women artists at work, making it difficult to believe that of these, absolutely none were capable of producing work worthy of recognition (Morris, 2003). This assumption is supported by the few, but present, women artists that were recognized during the Renaissance era. “It was no longer believed that women were incapable of creating great art, yet the rarity of the event was made evident by the lack of noted women artists of the time. And, if they were noted, their work was considered a ‘lesser’ form of art” (Shubitz, 1999). Martin (1997) points to the case of Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), who was a well-known Dutch painter. Working on incorporating scientific realism into her paintings of fruit and flowers while still capturing a sense of the transience of life, was still considered a minor artist in her male-dominated world. Because of this, the depth of her paintings has only been realized within the past 50 years. As has been indicated, the Victorian period ushered in a new understanding of women, but not necessarily one that opened the doors for female artists. Beginning in the 18th century, the power of feminine beauty was beginning to be recognized as a force in and of itself allowing women to take some advantage of their vanities. The National Museum of Women in the Arts (1998) points to Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842) as an example of a woman who painted her way to success thanks to an ability to “render all who came before her in a highly complimentary manner” (5). Proving that women were still not given credit for an ability to create high art, Vigee-Lebrun often had to prove to her male counterparts that she had indeed produced the work she presented rather than paying to have the work completed by a man (MacFall, 1922). As the 19th century loomed, women were given permission to expand their artistic expressions into appropriate areas such as the home and the café. The National Museum of Women in the Arts (1998) highlights Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) who had to pose as a man to gain recognition and Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) who was harshly criticized. Despite her artistic recognition, Mary Cassatt’s work “has been devalued and isolated for being either too much concerned with the female experience … or too limited by it” (Vogel, 1988: 49). Moving into more modern times, the advent of two world wars, world-shaking scientific discoveries, tremendous advances in technology and new theories of the mind all served to bring questions into long-established customs and norms of society (Radek, 2006). This was the world that Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo were born into, one being rocked by changing values and increased interaction with other cultures and ideas even as women were discovering a capacity to do much of the work previously thought accomplishable only by men. This realization began a push for women’s suffrage that began long before the explosion of women’s rights in the 1970s (NMWA, 1988). “The art world simultaneously experienced a drastic overhaul – the academies that had, for so long, defined the value of art became out-dated, and a myriad of new styles emerged. Women artists abandoned the limiting images of home and family, and, for the first time, used the image of the nude in their art” (Shubitz, 1999). This struggle to break free of the shackles of the male-dominated world is evident in the works of Carrington as well as Kahlo as much as it is in evidence in the struggle Carrington had to endure to achieve her artistic dreams and the length of time it took for Kahlo’s work to reach the attention of the general public. For Leonora Carrington, childhood epitomized the dual nature of her being. Growing up within three different mansions, surrounded by untamed woods and caught up in the Celtic stories of her grandmother and nanny, Carrington’s early childhood was full of the fairy tales and fantasies of freedom. However, as early as age 9, her father expected her to begin taking on the traditional roles of the female social elite by enrolling her in catholic convents for education and finishing, finally being presented at court at age 17 (Carrington, n.d.). However, throughout her life, her mother had surreptitiously encouraged her to explore the arts, meaning she was required to be her own motivation and instructor throughout much of her early years. She eventually rebelled against her father’s wishes to become an artist and gained reluctant permission from her family to attend art school (Carrington, n.d.). Her art school experiences introduced her to several influential artists, including Max Ernst who would have a profound impact on her life, as well as the surrealist art movement. During her struggles to achieve recognition for her art, Carrington twice experienced mental breakdowns as the war moved closer and more personal (Carrington, n.d.). Yet, it wasn’t until she fled from Europe and the encroaching German forces that she began to enjoy true recognition as an artist in Mexico. This difficult personal struggle to become an artist and maintain a reputation as a professional female artist is reflected to a great degree in Carrington’s work, as can be traced through her “Self-Portrait.” An intense sense of drama infuses the painting in every way. Although not wearing the traditional skirts and carefully styled hair of the feminine ideal, the artist pictures herself as still balancing on the edge of Victorianism, represented by the Victorian-styled chair she is perching on. This precarious balancing act is witnessed by three strange animal figures, suggesting a deeper intensity behind the images. “The clear colors, crisp edges and enamel-like surface of almost imperceptible brushwork contribute a feeling of compelling intensity. The images, though exactly defined, convey a sense of symbolic and elusive narrative” (Chadwick, 1986: 37). The brilliantly intense red covering the seat of the chair behind the artist suggests the bleeding wound of her past even as the attention-demanding rocking horse, running horse and strangely humanlike hyena seem to promise a different future. Understanding the symbolism of the animals brings the context of the struggle into even sharper focus. According to Chadwick (1986), the white rocking horse pictured behind Carrington’s figure is an often-repeated symbol of Carrington’s childhood. “A lonely child, she had cultivated an imaginary relationship with a rocking horse that stood in the nursery corner, the image reappears consistently in her later work” (Chadwick, 1986: 38). This placement helps to reinforce the importance of the chair that props her up as well as threatens to drop her. Outside the window, a white horse can be seen running from approximately the center of the painting toward the outer edge, moving in the direction the artist would need to move if she wished to move from her past toward the hyena, who is strongly representative of Max Ernst. As Chadwick (1982) points out, the resemblance of the human-like face of the hyena to Ernst is made even more apparent by his blue eyes. In a short story written at about the same time as the painting was created, Carrington describes the white horse of the Tuatha de Danaan as a psychic guide, “a friendly animal who conducts the young heroine into a world marked by mysterious ceremonies and rituals of transformation … The horse also became for her a metaphor for transcendent vision and a symbolic image of the sexual union which the Surrealists believed would resolve the polarities of male and female into an androgynous creative whole” (Chadwick, 1982: 38). This transformation is symbolized by the partly human form of the hyena as well as the partly animal form (particularly in terms of the wild hair) of the woman. This scene, so full of tension and agonizing razor’s-edge balance, captures the intensity of the multi-leveled struggle Carrington underwent to try to gain access to her artistic world. Like Carrington, Frida Kahlo experienced numerous difficulties in trying to attain her artistic career, but these difficulties were not caused as much by her gender as they were by accidents of life. When she was a child, she contracted polio and was expected never to walk again. However, through force of will, Kahlo learned to walk again only to be struck by a trolley car later in life, again predicted never to walk again and yet again defying the odds (Beck, 2006). Throughout her life, Kahlo experienced the pain of this accident, undergoing numerous surgeries and often being confined to bed for long stretches of time, or buckled into a ceramic cast to help support her. Rather than restricting her art, though, this confinement helped encouraged her art as it was one of the few things she could do from her bed. Also like Carrington, Kahlo’s introduction to the art world was initiated by her mother, who presented her with her first art set and assisted in having a mirror installed in the canopy above Kahlo’s bed so she could practice self-portraits (Beck, 2006). Her marriage to Diego Rivera, who felt her art was the best in Mexico, facilitated an easy acceptance of her brilliance within international artistic circles, but has only recently come to the attention of the greater general public. While she didn’t have to fight as hard to enter the art field as Carrington did, Kahlo’s work nevertheless displays the same desperate struggle to find balance between the past and the present, the self and the social expectations, particularly in her 1939 self-portrait “The Two Fridas.” For Kahlo, this division is represented through a dual image that relates back to Kahlo’s childhood while she was recovering from polio. “During that time, she created an imaginary friend who would later be reflected in a painting called ‘The Two Fridas.’ Explaining the painting in her diary she wrote, ‘I experienced intensely an imaginary friendship with a little girl more or less the same age as me … I followed her in all her movements and while she danced, I told her my secret problems” (Beck, 2006). This relationship becomes a means of expressing the two sides of Kahlo’s at the time of her divorce from Diego. One Frida is dressed in European clothing, indicating that this is the actual European half of Frida gained from her father as well as the portion of her that Diego does not love (Stechler, 2005). Her torn bodice and broken heart indicate the rejected side of her just as her hand holds a surgical instrument intended to help stop the flow of blood from a severed connection. Blood drips down the front of her dress symbolizing the pain she has experienced. The other Frida, on the other hand, has found success and happiness in her traditional Indian clothing and the strength of her whole heart. In her hand she holds a miniature photo of Diego, indicating the two of them will never be truly separated just as a vein extending between the two Fridas, and their clasped hands, indicate a connection that will equally never be severed or easily navigated. Even in the new age of technology, women’s rights and liberation, the struggles of woman to gain recognition within the art world continue to be a much-debated topic. While more and more women have achieved recognition for contributing fabulous works of art to the world’s treasures, many still exhibit works that betray tremendous struggle against traditional strictures and expectations while others experience difficulty in being understood as anything other than simply a ‘female’ artist, with their works interpreted from the perspective of gender rather than anything greater. This long-standing assumption that women are unqualified for participation in the greater outward discussions has been modified, but as Kahlo and Carrington demonstrate, it has not been removed from the greater mindset. Works Cited Barlow, Margaret. Women Artists. USA: Beaux Arts Editions, 2001. Beck, Jennifer. “Artist Hero: Frida Kahlo.” Artist Heroes. (July 12, 2006). April 22, 2007 Carrington, Pablo. Surrealist Art by Leonora Carrington. (n.d.). April 22, 2007 Chadwick, Whitney. “Leonora Carrington: Evolution of a Feminist Consciousness.” Woman’s Art Journal. 1986: 37-42. Heller, N. Women Artists: An Illustrated History. New York: Cross River Press, 1987. Hewitt, Nancy. “Taking the True Woman Hostage.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 14, N. 1. 2002, pp. 156-62. MacFall, Haldane. Vigee Le Brun: Masterpieces in Colour. London: T.C. & E.C. Jack Ltd, 1922. April 23, 2007 < http://www.batguano.com/Vigeebio.html> Morris, Roderick Conway. “Shattering a Renaissance Glass Ceiling.” International Herald Tribune. May 31, 2003. National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA). “Permanent Collection Tour: Establishing the Legacy.” (1998). April 22, 2007 Radek, Kimberly M. “Women in the Twentieth Century and Beyond.” Women in Literature. May 30, 2006. Illinois Valley Community College. April 23, 2007 Shubitz, Jeannie. “Women, Art and Gender: A History.” Southwestern Women Artists: Erased from History. (April 26, 1999). University of Arizona. April 22, 2007 Stechler, Amy. “The Two Fridas.” The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. 2005. Public Broadcasting Station. April 22, 2007 Vogel, L. “Fine Arts and Feminism: The Awakening Consciousness.” Feminist Art Criticism: An Anthology. A. Raven, C.L. Langer & J. Frueh (Eds.). Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1988. Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly. Vol. 18, N. 2, P. 1. 1966, pp. 151-74. Read More