The Elusive Female Artist
Why the word elusive some might say. When we look into the history of art there is something that remains elusive, and that is the work of the female artist. Women in the last four decades have slowly been infiltrating the pages of art history texts. Prior to that a paragraph may have been dropped here or there about the elusive female artist. Some noted for their artistic ability and some recognised as a mere muse of a famous male painter even if their talent outweighed that of their male counterpart. It seems that brilliance, talent or genius is something that is rarely awarded to that of a woman or so the educators of art history seem to portray. Female artists did however exist even if they seem to have fallen from the historical list of artistic genius. These women have stories that need to be told about the challenges and adversity they faced and we need to respect and honour the contribution that women had towards the art we see today.
Art predates that of conventional education and was used to portray messages to the uneducated masses when education was afforded to only the upper echelons of society. These historical representations help us to understand the influences affecting society at a point in history enabling us to interpret the relationship the past has with our current situation. Including the works of female artist into the education of art history gives us greater understanding of the conditions effecting women and the place they held within society. This is why it is imperative that we discover female artists from different eras of time. Their stories show the hardships of women which vary from that of a male and give a full representation of culture and society at the time.
There are so many women that faced challenges and deserve to be discovered or mentioned in the annals of history. A collective of artists found in different eras in history to show the oppression that women have faced, the challenges their personal circumstances created and their treatment by men and the visual art community. The following artist are but a small fraction of inspirational women that deserve their true stories to be told.
The brutally realistic depictions of Artemesia Genteleschi (B. 1593) expressed her personal interpretation of the world she lived in. Her savage imagery in the baroque style showed depictions of the male dominated society that violently impacted her personal life. Her father Ozario Gentileschi was a talented artist, seeing his daughters raw talent he enlisted the services of Agostina Tassi to provide her with lessons to hone her skill. The confines a woman faced in this time meant that there was no avenue for her as a female to attend an academy or guild. Tassi abusing his authority raped Artemisia and later went to trial for his crime. A long, torturous trial ensued bringing Artemisia into the public spotlight for the wrong reasons, questioning her integrity in a time when integrity and reputation were critical. Although convicted of her rape Tassi was set free thanks to the power and influence he held because of his art. Artemisia goes on to depict her personal grievance with the male sex and their aggressive intrusion upon life. Post trial Gentileschi relocates, marries and goes on to produce an astonishing portfolio of works over her 40 year career. Her art goes into historical obscurity and is rediscovered in the early 20th Century where her struggle continues even in todays times when her work has been misattributed to that of male artists.
Frida Kahlo (B. 1907) produced self portraits in the surrealist style capturing her struggle with pain and suffering and identity. She narrates her life stories through her paintings with the same vibrancy and passion she had towards life. Crippled by polio as a child Kahlo faced enough adversity but then was thrown a life changing blow when she is involved in a bus accident that left her bed bound and further handicapped. In light of the situation most may have succumbed to adversity but her strong character made light of the situation and set her path into the visual arts. Her time spent in bed enabled her to practice her drawing skills starting with her feet and then moving onto self portraits. Recognising her talent she went on to introduce her works to fellow artist Diego Rivera who she later marries. Kahlo in the earlier days supports her husbands artistic endeavours while struggling with inner turmoil of miscarriages, pain and identity. Throughout her career her health deteriorates as her career flourishes and her personal turmoil of betrayal and crippling health and inability to have children continue to influence her works. Dying at an early age from her ailments ended her struggles and taught us about strength in the face of adversity.
Charlotte Salomon (B.1917) a life that was cut short by the evil of supremacy, her torture is inescapable. Saloman creates gouache paintings that narrate her life story. These raw images show great amounts of information in their simplicity and portray emotion in a way that many could only dream. Her works show a chronology of her life often described as an expressionistic graphic novel attributed to the suicide of her mother and short existence in a time of horror. Salomon created 784 modern masterpieces in a time of adversity and pure horror, her detainment in the Nazi death camps. At the age of 26 and 5 months pregnant Salomon was murdered in the Nazi gas chambers. Her trove of over 1700 paintings were hidden by a friend and latter entrusted to Salomons' father and stepmother who miraculously survived the atrocity of the the Nazis. Her legacy should have been erased from history but she had the foresight to ensure her legacy lives on through her work.
There are many further compelling stories that show unique characters exist and deserve recognition for facing adversity and for their artistic genius and brilliance. Some have been rediscovered and some still remain in anonymity or obscurity. But awareness of the adversity that female artists have faced and the amazing stories their works tell is essential to having a well rounded education in art history and culture.
The imprint they made on our cultural history needs to be recognised. We need not abandon them to mediocrity but celebrate their brilliance, find strength from their challenges and ensure their adversities are recognised. Let us empower with education and give women artist the respect and recognition they deserve for their heroic dedication to the visual arts. As stated by Linda Nochlin in her paper ‘why have there been no great women artists?’ ‘the question of of women’s equality in art as in any other realm devolves not upon the relative benevolence or ill-will of individual men, nor the self confidence or abjectness of individual women, but rather on the very nature of our institutional structures themselves and the view of reality which they impose on the human beings who are part of them’. They are never going to be great if they are not discovered. “ Rediscovery”, of course depends on the fact that women artists must first be discovered.’ awareness of the wrongs in education of art history can grow passion for the discovery and rediscovery of historical artists.