An era has shifted when religious and traditional paintings were no longer a popular trend that artists resorted to. Art has changed greatly throughout the late 19th Century to mid 20th Century because art was expressed in a such an advanced manner. This great era was called Modernism; Here, new techniques and styles were experimented to create work that illustrated the new values in society. During this era, artists were thinking more freely and were influenced by what was going on in the world during that time. Media, political movements, and other aspects that shift culture were also gaining interests from many artists and audiences. Most artists in this time period that were endorsing modernism were men, however feminism was very much alive shadowing in society. In Whitney Chadwick’s book, it states “by a nineteenth-century social ideology that stressed separate spheres for men and women, have confidently asserted “art has no sex”” (383). Feminism and female muses struck out in a way that was not done in any other era since artists were using different art methods for their pieces. Male artists were not the only ones that were able to express their gender vulnerability. Women became their own muses when it occurred to nude and self portraits since these kinds of pieces became more common. Modern art also represented images different than any other era. Artists became aware of new styles to express their work using abstraction, photography and other creative methods to create simple real life illustrations that helped the audience to grasp on to new notions. European artists that used the troubles of Europe in their work, influenced American modernism by establishing new art movements such as dadaism and surrealism. Female artists in Europe were able to express art and media more openly compared to Americans. Chadwick justifies this point by saying, “The image that promised a new world for the modern woman in twentieth century industrial society would exist as a reality: only for wealthy and privileged women” (Chadwick 278). Although family status or wealthiness was still a concept, it was not to the extreme as previous eras. Of course men were still the dominant figures standing behind of these movements!
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| Hannah Hoch,"Indian Dancer: From an Ethnographic Museum" (1930) |
Dadaism is an European based art movement that expresses notions influenced by the first World War, making audiences question about society during the time. Expressionism, futurism, and cubism were other highlighting factors of influences with the way artists used collages and photography to capture ideas. Hannah Hoch, a female German painter, is best known to influence the dada movement and hint German expressionism. Her iconic work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art and is praised for capturing a “language of the avant-garde that reverberates to this day” (MoMa). She used mass media like splitting magazine images to construct collage photomontages that created a modern way of showing culture. Hoch’s work symbolized deep messages that consisted of social and political issues, yet she would express it in a fashionable and futuristic way. In the Guerrilla Girls’ book, there is statement Hoch made asserting, “They all desired this ‘new woman’ and her groundbreaking will to freedom. But they more or less brutally rejected the notion that they too, had to adopt new attitudes,” when revealing her male colleagues perspectives (67). Her passing made an immense impact is the dada and surrealism art world, as artists still acknowledge her!
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| Gertrude Abercrombie "Split Personality" |
Surrealism played a great role during this visionary time. As a person that admires art greatly, surrealism is one of the most creative and unique types of work! This particular method consists of imaginative illustrations that tend to play with the audience’s mind and liberate human understandings from oppressive rationalism. Futurism, sexuality, fantasies, and mysteries were influences behind these pieces of work. The whole concept of surrealism was to explore the subconscious and display thrilling illustrations for one to see, especially during these years of shifting cultures. Gertrude Abercrombie, a talented female surrealist painter during the mid 1900s embodied dark still lifes with mysterious twists from her great interest in sorcery. In majority of her work she used owls, cats, trees, moons and other dark symbols to convey her thoughts. Gertrude was proof that female painters were not signified like men because her career took a plummet with age. With that being said, her work is acknowledged now and most of it is displayed at the Contemporary Art Museum of Chicago.
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| Gertrude Abercrombie "Three Cats" |
The postmodernism era arrived after World War II and stemmed off of the industrial movement. Advancements in technology and mass media were main components that impacted this era of civil reformation. Chadwick described this era to “draw heavy on existing representations, rather than inventing new styles, and it often derives its imagery from mass media or popular culture, has focused attentions on the way that sexual and cultural difference are produced and reinforced in images” (Chadwick 380). Real life situations that incorporated women issues were surfacing in art. Furthermore, women empowerment was at a rise since women were gaining rights such as being able to vote. Social issues were being justified as female artists were able to perform, illustrate, and create work by having more opportunity. Women were independent and had freedom compared to women during the modernism period. Female artists were finally being credited and were able to inject messages into society that questioned the male gaze. During this movement, there was more expression and liberation with exploring societal values. A particular female artist that performs these acts is Yoko Ono. She devotes her career manifesting peace and advocating world issues: Mostly through experimenting with live performances. Her popular performance “Cut” required people in the audience to cut pieces of clothing to confront class and gender issues. Ultimately, this piece focused on gender identity and the significance of the human body as she laid on the stage alone with missing pieces of clothing. All in all, her work inspired many to lead towards world peace and to diminish social issues, highlighting the importance of feminism in her performance art. Despite the monumental shift postmodernism created regarding females, women stardom was still at the brink compared to men.
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| Yoko Ono, "Cut Piece" (1964) |
Work Cited:
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th Edition. 2007
Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. 2006
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