Blog 3

Angel Ayala
04/04/2017

Modernism

The 20^th century marked the era in which the women’s newfound strength led them to continue the fight for equality against their male counterparts, the same men who for centuries ruled the world while viewing women as inferiors. What triggered the discovery of this newfound strength was the introduction of the 19^th Amendment in 1920, which granted American women the right to vote. With this breakthrough in women’s rights, women felt the need to go against the cultural norms in order to bring about more change for the better, especially for them. The result was the ideology called modernism. According to Guerilla Girls, modernism can be defined as the fusion of “impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, dada-ism, surrealism, expressionism, abstract expressionism, etc.” (p. 59). From an artist point of view, modernism essentially allowed them to construct art in any way shape, or form that they please, as it allows them to break away from traditional art.

Abstraction is a form of art in which it is an extension of impressionism without the limitations placed upon it. Abstract art typically consists of vivid or arbitrary colors, real-life subjects with an emphasis on geometric forms, and distort form for expressive effect. Sonia Delaunay, a Russian abstract artist, expressed several of her art in fashion. The reason for it was because, “In the 20^th century, as we shall see, it was fashion which translated the principles of abstraction to, and defined modernity for, a broad public” (Chadwick, p. 262). Using fashion as a means to portray her art allowed women to use their bodies to express themselves in any way that pleased them. One can even say that the women who used these abstract fashion clothing were the artwork as well. Delaunay demonstrates the bold designs that went against the cultural norms in her Designs for Clothes and Cars (1925). However, she put her husband’s career first instead of hers while raising a son, and it was not until after her husband’s death that she started working on her artwork again.

Sonia Delaunay, Designs for Clothes and Cars, 1925

German expressionism was a movement focused more on “an abstract formal language carried with it an implicit threat – that of ‘decoration’ devoid of content” (Chadwick, p. 253). Instead of having a model to paint, the art form is simplified colored shapes bound by dark contour lines. The purpose of it was to evoke ideas and moods that would be brought by its emotional effect, which is no surprise since this movement came about before the start of the First World War. Although it does not necessarily evoke an emotional response, Gabriele Münter’s Portrait of Marianne von Weerefkin (1909) does stress simplification and heavy black lines.

Gabriele Münter, Portrait of Marianne von Weerefkin, 1909

Dadaism was another art movement that strung out in Europe during the early 20^th century, which challenged every aspect of society while also mocking the middle class.  According to Chadwick, “Avant-garde spectacles like Dada performances helped break down earlier notions about clothing as a cover for the body, replacing them with an image of the body as a fluid screen, capable of reflecting back a present constantly undergoing redefinition and transformations” (p. 274). Because Dada was a movement dominated by males, female artists used it to their advantage in order to show how the male gaze was still relevant at the time. Hannah Hoch, one of the first German artists that made photomontages, fought for the independence of women, such as being able to smoke, vote, work, and wearing erotic clothing without the stigma that is associated for women. In her work DADA-Dance (1919-21), one is able to see a women model that is dressed elegantly with the head being replaced by that of a black woman. Moreover, the dancer is violently distorted in order to go against what society deemed as an ideal female body.  

Hannah Hoch, DADA-Dance, (1919-21)

Evolving from Dadaism, Surrealism focused on unlocking the mind in order to fully use the imagination that was deeply locked away in the individual’s subconscious. However, male surrealist artists have been criticized for using surrealism as a means to fuse “the sexual and the artist by equating artistic creation with male sexual energy, presenting women as powerless and sexually subjected” (Chadwick, p. 270). As a result, female surrealist artists used this art form as a way break free from the stereotypes surrounding what women can and cannot do. For example, in Claude Cahun’s Self Portrait (1929), she depicts herself as being male while wearing clothes that is associated with the female gender. Presenting the male in such a way was essentially mind blowing because Self Portrait (1929) demonstrates that there is no gender when it comes to clothing. In most of her work, “Instead of presenting herself as a passive object ready to be consumed by a heterosexual male gaze, she defiantly presents herself as both object and subject of her own sexual fascinations” (Guerilla Girls, p. 63).

Claude Cahun, Self Portrait, 1929

Claude Cahun, Beneath This Mask, 

Works Citied 

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, art, and society. 4th ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.

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