The struggle of women artists is news to some people, and the amount of women mentioned in the art scene is unbelievably few. With that being said, the Brooklyn Museum does a fine job of displaying the work of Women artists, including an entire Feminist Collection. The themes of nature--or the lack thereof--prove to be representative when talking about the work of women in terms of liberation and the desire for acceptance in to the world they love.
In this oil canvas by Georgia O'Keefe titled "Dark Tree Trunks," the natural world is visited and, as with Schapiro later on, nature becomes a little bit less zen. Here, what can be argued as the "beautiful art" of trees--the hanging stems, the leaves--are not displayed. It is a close-up focus of the trunks of a tree, the sturdy but not-so-pretty part of the tree. However, the embodiment of a tree, and the only way a tree can sustain life, is through the trunk. The trunk absorbs water and nutrients through its housed roots. This symbolic painting would carry a consistent theme to O'Keefe's work for years to come.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/1836/Dark_Tree_Trunks?referring-q=Georgia
In this piece titled "Agony in the Garden" by Miriam Schapiro, a message of rememberance and continuity is displayed. In the middle of the painting is a self-portrait made by arguably the most "famous" woman artist, Frida Khalo. THe title of the painting contains a key word--Agony. That word is fitting to describe the plights of women artists as, to this day, they still struggle to be equal to men. The mix and blend of colors, shapes, and designs surrounding Khalo in the middle can express both the myriad of tribulations faced by women, as well as the beauty in art in and of itself. The painitng is expressive, referring back to the title. A garden is something that generally symbolizes new beginnings (Adam and Eve?) and something more modern related to feeling "zen." The title explicity makes the garden one of struggle, or agony, referring back to the endless fight for women recognition.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/146910/Agony_in_the_Garden?referring-q=Frida+Khalo
In this painting, part of a large collection of over 50 pieces from various women artists titled "Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection," the Brooklyn Museum does a fine job of providing a perspective of the oppression of women artists. In the portrait displayed here, both a an and a woman are looking out of a window. While both are happy and smiling, the collection as a whole fights to eradicate the gender inequities. Here, the woman and the man are finely dressed, without much of a position of power visible. While this lacks the nature theme that the other pieces have, the lack of nature can prove a point. Here, there is no color, no abstraction--the man and the woman are looking out from within, lacking the rest of the world. This can show that the woman in this artist is not imposed by anything at all--not man, not other woman, and not even nature.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/3176/Burning_Down_the_House%3A_Building_a_Feminist_Art_Collection?referring-q=Frida
Below is an image titled "Night Ride" by Susan Rothenberg. To continue on the aforementioned theme of both nature and title symbolism, what Rothenberg provides us with here is the image of a white and blue horse, lacking detail but providing a clear image. While the horse is light colored and generally pleasing to the eye, the title of the work is Night Ride. This provides a continuing theme of nature representing the dark path for women through the incorporation of nature in the images. The entire horse is white and light blue, while the object in front of him is colored in black, looking to be some sort of barrier.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/417286721693028183/
Finally, the piece below is a work done by A.R. Lara, which is untitled. This is featured inside of the Brooklyn Museum. The theme of nature continues, displaying yet again a horse. This horse fare's differently then the horse we saw with lighter shading. The horse looks to be in some sort of uncomfortable galloping position, with its head down. The shadow of its tail is dark, and the hair on its head can be seen flowing in the direction of its head. This use of nature is plain, with the horse consuming the entirety of the paper with not much else to show for it. While it is difficult to analyze this work, it can be related to the other discussed pieces. The horse seems to be in a conflict with itself, despite nothing else being around. While this may be a stretch, in keeping with the theme, this horse could be fighting against itself the way women have to. With women consistently being critiqued down to the detail on their work--if they even get somebody to give it a fair shot--they must constantly be fighting with themselves when dealing with the hardships of recognition.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/artists/6729/A._R._Lara
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