Modernism

Modernism was a style which influenced art and architecture that dominated the Western culture from the 19th century up until the 1960’s. Women wanted to be be treated with equal rights in the different sectors of our male dominated society, especially in art. Modernism easily rejected the ideology of realism.The movements that were associated with modern art were Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Impressionism, Futurism.It was revolutionary and created a big movement in the art world for men and women.

In Europe, many women were creating new ways of forming art. They persevered and eventually were acknowledged even though males were superior in the art industry.  One of the first women artists that influenced modern art was Georgia O’Keeffe. She used techniques from other artists, Paul Strand being one of those artists her close up paintings were influenced by. She used his method of cropping and painted American objects that were abstract and detailed. The Society for Applied Art in Munich involved artists, like Margaretha von Brauchitsch who’s embroidery designs gained attention at the World Exposition in Paris in 1900. She used nature and abstract designs in her work (Chadwick 253).Like many artists, Eva Hesse, was praised for feminine minimalist abstraction when she was close to her death. Being a women artist was taking a risk of becoming acknowledge after death. Since many women like Lee Krasner and Alma Thomas had to work harder than the male artists in their life to be taken seriously, they admitted that it was still worth it at the end because they did what they enjoyed.

Abstract expressionism was judged critically and challenged the boundaries in the art world in the 1930s. Artist Lee Krasner talks about how she had to  define herself as an artist to alleviate assumptions of her taking ideas or copying her husband, Jackson Pollock. Krasner and her husband once had an exhibition called “Man and Wife,” but the experience from the negative reviews was so disheartening that she destroyed most of those paintings and never held another exhibition. This shows just how much society had created this sexual difference in the art world. Making it so laborious for women to become successful artists.  Women were encouraged by their teachers to divorce the idea of art from female experience in order to be successful professionally (Chadwick 324). Art was a skill seen as acquired by men, because women were deemed uncreative. That is why Dorothy Dehner left her husband to become a professional sculptor. Most of the time men became successful but stuck to what they already knew. Women like Sonia Delaunay used the play of colors to express modernism( Chadwick 261). Her husband Robert Delaunay gained most of his success because of her innovative ideas.

Dadaism was a style that used shapes and simple objects. It did not express beauty but rather post World War I emotions. Dada performances broke down the notion that clothing was made to cover the body (Chadwick 274).Sophie Taeuber-Arp Vertical Horizontal Composition c.1916-18 shows the simple textile-like design she used and the colors of black,white,and gray to signify the world(Chadwick 273). Women’s fashion was also developing and becoming modern. Coco Chanel in 1910 invented the “little black dress” which became the hallmark of the 1930s. Many people started seeing these women as independent consumers and industrial workers. Women were moving past the boundaries they started with during the 20th century. The fashion and glamour of 1920s stressed the modern woman’s youth and sexuality and the reality of most women’s lives was far more complex (Chadwick 276).  

In modern art, the body of a woman was able to be painted without being sexualized. Throughout history, the male gaze has used female bodies for personal pleasure and objectified it.  Women were excluded from male dominated exhibitions and institutions until 1970. Suzanne Valadon’s painting The Blue Room depicts a woman in her natural state, not posing for anyone, but rather just relaxing like anyone else. This expressed the difference of nudes in Western art.She emphasized the awkward gestures of figures apparently in control of their own movements (Chadwick 285). This was contrary to the popular images throughout art that show women as controlled by the male gaze. Women started creating pieces of art using rags, fabric, thread, and flitter which associated with women’s cultural traditions. However, only certain materials and certain processes were honored instead of others (Chadwick 363).When women like Gina Pane climbed up and down a sharp ladder,depicting the struggle for women to climb up the ladder of success, it was ignored or labeled as a masochist by American feminist (Chadwick 367). Feminism actually developed as an international movement when women artists started questioning where to exhibit their work and finding space to work. Women inspired and developed new ideas in modernism in all sectors of art, including clothes, how they were perceived in society, and their abilities as human beings.  

 Links

Georgia O 'Keeffe-Life and art
Coco Chanel- Little Black Dress

Work Cited

Chadwick, W. (2012). Women, Art, and Society (5th ed.). New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.

Guerrilla Girls (1998). The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York, NY: Penguin Books