The Age of Women: Modernism & Postmodernism

The ending of the 19th century and the beginning half of the 20th century marked the periof of Modernism. Modernism began as a period of revolution and societal transformations, sparking change in the minds of ordinary citizens in Europe. Particularly, Modernism became a movement for artists to create new art forms and celebrate new meanings of art, which is where the 'isms' sprouted from. "...impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, dada-ism, surrealism, expressionism, abstract expressionism, etc. Put them all together and you get Modernism" (The Guerilla Girls 59). The 20th century also marked the beginning of a new age for Women, in particular being able to vote, therefore gaining more rights than ever before, and equally, women gained more of a right to create art on their own terms. However, societal norms were still in place, and women were still expected to perform their 'duties' as women, from taking care of the home and supporting their husband. Despite this, women would go on to become trailblazers during the period of Modernism, and set the stage for women to come after them.

A woman who has experienced the life of being an artist and a wife who was stuck behind her husband's shadow was Sonia Delaunay. Sonia was a Russian artist, who then moved to Paris, where she married Robery Delaunay, a cubist painter. Sonia believed, "that modernity could best be expressed through a dynamic interplay of color harmonies and dissonances which replicated the rhythms of modern urban life" (Chadwick 260). Together, they developed the theory of colors, otherwise known as Simultanism, however, only Sonia's husband was attributed to the creation, while she took the back seat.

Sonia Delaunay Couverture 1911, First Piece of decorative art, Pieced Quilt

After working with quilts, Sonia moved on to designing objects for her home, like lampshades and curtains. Which was understandable since Sonia took on the housewife role since she got married and when her children were born, simply Sonia was doing her so-called 'wifely and motherly' duties of taking care of the home, which was decorating. Sonia then moved on to another medium, which would eventually catch the eye of many individuals. In 1913, Sonia went on to create simultaneous dresses, which were a statement piece about the state of fashion and feminism during that time period. "Their patterns of abstract forms were arranged both to enhance the natural movement of the body and to establish a shimmering movement of color...the female body itself was perceived as an important signifier for modernity" (Chadwick 262).

Sonia Delaunay Simultaneous Dresses 1913

With Sonia's creation, it was for women and designed by a woman, which further promoted women and the idea of feminism. And while Sonia's dresses created a new form of art with a new meaning, for other Countries, modernity and dresses became a signifier of a revolution, which some governments were not allowing and wanted to completely abolish.

Continuing with the evolution of the meaning of feminism and the evolution of women as artists, there were female artists who explored the female body, changing the male gaze and warping that gaze into how women see their own bodies and how women defined their female experience.

Suzanne Valadon was one of the first women artists to define a female's experience by using the nude female. Valadon began as nude model, which is where she gets her inspiration from, which would later on help her in translating her experience to art. "...she emphasizes context, specific moment, and physical action. Instead of presenting the female body as a lush surface isolated and controlled by the male gaze, she emphasizes the awkward gestures of figures apparently in control of their own movements" (Chadwick 285).

Suzanne Valadon The Blue Room 1923

Like Valadon, there were other women who contributed to the newly found expression of women and their interpretation of their bodies like Pan Yuliang's Nude Study, 1947 and Tarsila Do Amaral's, Anthropophagy, 1929.

Women played a major role in the evolution of art, especially during the period of Modernism. These first wave feminist created a different definition of feminism, setting the stage for other time periods to come.

Moving down the timeline, the late 20th century brought about the period of Postmodernism. However the timeline of Postmodernism has been difficult to differentiate from the timeline of Modernism, with possible overlapping. But what is for certain that Postmodernism acts an interaction with Modernism, evolving the production of art. "The term Postmodernism has been used to characterize the breaking down of the unified traditions of Modernism...Postmodernism draws heavily on existing representations, rather than inventing new styles, and that it often derives its imagery from mass media or popular culture..." (Chadwick 380). Postmodernism becomes everything that Modernism did not offer, especially when it pertains to the mediums produced and the artist who produce. During the age of Postmodernism, art becomes any and everything, produced by anyone. While Modernism was so cut in stone about the type of mediums used, like paintings, Postmodernism provides new mediums that simply state that art is not just painting, but basically whatever the artist wants it to be. During the Postmodernism period, artists were creating pieces of installation art, conceptual art, intermedia, and multimedia, particularly with the use of video, due to new technology.

During the 1970s, feminist artist, Judy Chicago, was a professor at Fresno State College. There she taught women, in a male-free zone, about women's art. From there it became a full on Feminist Art Program, becoming the United States first. In 1974 to 1979, Chicago would produce her installation piece, The Dinner Party, currently on exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. "The Dinner Party comprises a massive ceremonial banquet, arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history. The settings consist of embroidered runners, gold chalices and utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates with raised central motifs that are based on vulvar and butterfly forms and rendered in styles appropriate to the individual women being honored. The names of another 999 women are inscribed in gold on the white tile floor below the triangular table". The Dinner Party is mostly significant because it recognizes all the women who have contributed to society, whether it be art or another part of society. It recognizes the history of women, when others have forgotten. It can be compared to goal of the Modernism pieces discussed in the beginning of the post. Both promote the recognization of women, however it does recognize different aspects of women. The Dinner Party highlights women and their accomplishments in a society where men are valued more than women, while Modernism art displays a woman's body, nonetheless while creating their female experience, irregardless of the male gaze. However, Chicago's piece does lack women of color, which has been a struggle throughout history, in general. In which, the period of Modernism did see some women of color as artists. It should also be noted that the place settings in the installation are all comparable to the shape of female genitalia, which could speak to the feminity of women and the female experience.

In the 1980s, New Jersey born artist, Cindy Sherman, photographer and film director, went on to create a series of 69 black and white photographs, entitled the Untitled Film Stills. Her piece would go on to be understood as feminist photography. The 69 photographs are all of Sherman, posing as women taking part in different roles of society, like a librarian or a woman in the home. The point of Sherman's collection was to mimick old film stills from the 1950s and 1960s. The collection mimicked how women were portrayed in media, in stereotypical roles. "...reveal the instability of gender, and challenge the idea that there might be an innate, unmediated female sexuality...exposing the fiction of a 'real' woman behind the images that Western culture constructs for our consumption in film..." (Chadwick 383). A major key in Sherman's collection is the idea of uncertainity. While Sherman did input herself into the photographs, the photographs are very ambiguous, which motivates the audience to question the scene and Sherman's emotions. Uncertainity plays a major role in the period of Postmodernism because art was not one thing anything, art became to be known as a word with many meanings and many different forms of expressing it.

Cindy Sherman Untitle Film Stills 1979

Works Cited

The Guerilla Girls, The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016

The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2018, from https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party