Post 3

Stephanie Zito
4/4/17

Modernism 

During the 20th Century women were still put down due to their assigned gender, but at this time women began empowerment and sought to stand up strong together. Women were finally granted the right to vote under the 19th amendment, which is a big accomplishment for all women. With this new sense of power women began to more freely express and pursue art regardless of their gender. "In Western art, movements and "isms" appeared, one after another: impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, dada-ism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, etc (Guerrilla Girls 59). All these different types of art created modernism, women and art were getting right to work during this time. Modernism focused greatly on different fashions and culture during the 20th Century. 

Abstraction

Sonia Delaunay, Couverture de Berceau, 1911

Abstraction was a form of art that women during the 20th century began to create. Abstraction does not necessarily have a main focus, its typically created using different shapes, textures and colors. Women like Sonia Delaunay used quilts, book covers, curtains, dresses and other objects that accessible within a household. One summer Delaunay wanted to go against the typical medium of a canvas and decided to create dresses that allowed her to express herself in a way that went against the current fashion trends. "Their patterns of abstract forms were arranged both to enhance the natural movement of the body and to establish a shimmering movement of color" (Chadwick 262). By establishing something new this gives her more power to her and eventually to other women, to go against the followed norms. The image to the left is a picture a one of Sonia Delaunay's pieces, which is a blanket. The blanket is crafted of different fabrics and textures, that was once for her baby Charles. Sonia Delaunay created a way to bring art to connect with her life.

Sonia Delaunay, Sonia's Designs for Clothes and Citren, 1925

German Expressionism and Dada

German expressionism consisted of artists prior to World War II and artwork that told a story in a way that related to social or political aspects. These young artists were changing the culture of Germany, although it did not last long, it still held an impact on the art world. Dada was also an art movement that arose during the 1920s. Dadaism is described as, "an art movement that challenged every convention (except male supremacy) and scandalized society" (Guerrilla Girls 66). It consisted of artists who wanted to break the rules and create art that rejected logic and reasoning. Dada was sometimes expressed through collages. Hannah Hoch was a german dada artist who created very bold pieces of art. One of her very well known piece of work was Marlene. In Marlene we can see below that a woman's legs are put on display for the viewer, which proves that the male gaze continues still. Also at the bottom there are men calling at the legs, which depicts again that the legs are on display. We can also see a woman's lip in the upper right hand corner, with no sight of her eyes, which again is another inclusion of the male gaze because the female does not look in the direction of the painter. Through this piece of work, Hannah Hoch is not trying to make it pleasing to the audience, but send a deeper message.

Hannah Hoch, Marlene, 1930

Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944

Surrealism 

Surrealism was another movement that took off during the 20th century, right after the Dada movement. Surrealism allowed the artist to express their unconscious mind through the form of art. An artists imagination was a big part of surrealist art. Surrealist artists sought to dig through the unconscious mind and express it through their art, which led to many other movements for the art world. A very well known surrealist painter was Frida Kahlo, who was from Mexico. Frida began her interest in art when she was in recovery, from her near death bus accident. After her accident she became involved with Diego Rivera, who encouraged Frida's work. Frida's art work was quite different for the time. She eventually found others who expressed themselves similarly to Frida, which were surrealists. "They believed their exploration of dreams and the unconscious mind was universal, crossing all times and cultures. They claimed me as one of them (Guerrilla Girls 78). Frida had found herself and others who were similar to her. In one of Frida's pieces, called The Broken Column, she depicts herself as bare and hurt. Inside of her she paints a broken column going all the way through her body, representing the the structure supporting her is breaking. We can also see there are tears pouring down her face as well as nails pinned all over her body. The biggest nail is right in her heart, which is from all the pain Diego has caused Frida throughout their entire relationship. Frida is suffering in this self portrait; she was able to find a way to express herself through surrealism.

Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939

Work Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Londres: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Print.

The Guerrilla Girls' bedside companion to the history of Western art. London: Penguin, 1998. Print.