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| Women in Power |
It’s May where did January go and what happened to February,March and april but I don’t think it’s too late to look back on the hot topic of 2018 being the “Year of the Women” especially as it was the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. So, I really thought thought it would be rude not to contribute towards this, although to be honest I try to do this in 2018, but events overtook me. So, I thought better late then never.
I have limited my discussion to explore three women, one of who has been drawn to my attention by one of my lovely friend and two others Frida Kahlo and Annie Swynnerton, who I came across whilst visiting a fabulous exhibition in Manchester.
So, the first lady is the incredible Artemisia Gentileschi, and a big thank you to Lesley who discussed this with me at one of our get togethers. Artemisia was a fascinating lady, who has now become one of the most celebrated painters of the 17th century, famous after 400 years. Artemisia who was an Italian Baroque painter and whose father was Orazio Gentileschi, an accomplished painter in his own right. Orazio was greatly influenced by de Caravaggio, with whom he had a brief friendship and his own style changed after meeting him. It is said that Orazio helped to develop Artemisia’s style and perhaps indirectly so did de Caravaggio.
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| Artemisia Gentileschi |
So what made people sit up and look at Artemisia now? Since, she was generally ignored back in the 17th Century. If you look at her life she was exceptional woman of her time, very independent, strong-willed and tenacious. There were very few women artist’s around at that time who perhaps had the skills to stand out against their male counterparts. Although during the 18th, and 19th, century she was almost obliterated out of art. When she was rediscovered in the 20th century it was not really her art that people discussed but, how she and her father won a rape trial that was brought against her teacher, the elder artist Agostino Tassi (Gottharst ND). Initially Tassi said he would marry Artemisia, and so they continued a relationship on this basis, however when Tassi reneged on this proposal, her father initiated a rape charge against him (Cohen 2000).
It’s not completely clear if this dreadful attack had an influence in how she painted, or if it was linked to her being tricked by Tassi into continuing a relationship with him (Cohen 2000). Whatever it was, it’s clear she seems to use her art work to release her aggression. If you compare her work of Judith Slaying Holofernes compared to de Caravaggio’s painting there is a marked difference. In Artemisa’s work it shows much more aggression of depicting Judith. You can see the look of hate and anger, whereas in de Caravaggio’s version, Judith is seen to give a nervous hesitatant approach to the deed she is about to carry out.
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| Artemisia painting of Holofernes and Judith |
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| de Caravaggio's painting of Holofernes and Judith |
It is also interesting to see that in de Caravaggio’s painting, Holofernes is demonstrating a look of shock and fighting aggression to the point you can see that he is about to push a timid Judith away. In comparison, Artemisia’s depiction of the same situation, shows Holofernes looking weak, defeated and resigned to his fate. The portrayal of both women is also interesting with Artemisia painting the scene to show a strong Judith and her maid servant, Abra. Abra is painted holding Holofernes down, whilst Judith cuts his throat. In de Caravaggio's it is the complete opposite, it seems to show a weak Judith and Abra. One can only wonder if de Caravaggio's never suffered at the hands of anyone, so he cannot call upon his anger to inject into his work. It is said that in Artemisia’s painting she is Judith and Holofernes is Tassi. So did this give Artemisia closure over the whole incident by painting such a scene to demonstrate to the world, We would say it could be. We can sometimes show how we feel through expressive emotion like this, and so the message is don’t mess with women, even in the 17th century.
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| Frida Kahlo |
Moving forward to the early twentieth century there is Frida Kahlo de Rivera a Mexican artist who painted many portraits, self-portraits and works inspired by the nature and artefacts of Mexico. Frida may not have suffered a rape, but she did suffer with cruel illness - she contracted polio at the age of 6, which meant she was bed-bound for 9 months, and when she became mobile she developed a limp, which may have resulted in her being tormented by her peers and could be be a factor in why she become more introverted (FridaKohl.org 2011; Art Story, 2018). In 1922 Frida became politically inspired and became a member of the Mexican Communist Party and she also was motivated to train to become a doctor. Sadly in 1925 when she was but 18, Frida was involved in a horrific bus accident, which may have put paid to her political career. However, it did start her painting, since whilst she was recuperating from the accident she started to paint ( Art Story, 2018: Wilcox & Henestrosa, 2018). However, did this accident put paid to her desire to become a doctor or she just decided painting was more rewarding. Either way, she gave up her medical studies and concentrated on her art instead.
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| Self Protrait |
The reason I feel she is a voice for the “Power of Women” is her unconventional approach to life. She was her own person and would not conform. From an early age she felt uncomfortable with Mexico’s cultural concepts and would often wear male attire (Blakewell 1993). Frida’s self portrait with cropped hair shows how she wanted to demonstrate her gender non-conforming identity. This androgynous painting shows how she would paint herself by exaggerated facial hair. This would fall into her art work showing a mixed approach to gender in her paintings.
I feel her work is not conventional for her time, since she did not adhere to protocol of drawing gentle scene. Instead she made her feeling unequivocally clear by drawing in such a way to show raw emotional feelings of loss, betrayal and pain.
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| Annie Swynnerton |
My final “Woman in Power” is the relatively unknown Annie Swynnerton. Annie was an active supporter of the suffrage movement being a member of the Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage from 1885 to 1895, and painted the notorious Emmeline Pankhurst (Allen, Morris 2018). Although, its not clear if they knew each other that well, but Annie was a good friend to Louisa and Fanny Wilkinson, whose father Dr Williamson was actively involved in supporting the suffragist movement. Thus it’s possible that she may have been approached by him to paint Mrs Pankhurst. It was not only Mrs Pankhurst Annie painted, but also Dame Millicent Fawcett the founder of the suffragists. So, while Annie was not marching for Women’s rights you could say she was doing her PR bit by painting these ladies so they could be put out there on display for the world to see.
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| Dame Millicent Fawcett |
Annie is perhaps more famous for teaming up with Isabel Dacre to form their own Arts Association for women. This came about when Manchester Academy of Fine Arts refused to allow women to join the society. In 1879, infuriated by the refusal of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) to admit women, Annie and her friend Isabel Dacre established their own association; Manchester Society of Women’s Artists (MSWA). This was instrumental in opening up doors for women to display their art work and they both became champions in providing teaching opportunities to women that had not been widely available before (Allen & Morris 2018). It was short-lived, but not through lack of interest. It has to be acknowledged that it did help to open the doors for women to join MAFA since, it was only after exhibitions promoted by MSWA did MAFA sit up and take notice that women are equally good if not better artists then men and in 1884 opened it’s doors to all gender artists. (Allen & Morris 2018).
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| The Town of Sienna |
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| The Dreamer by Annie Swynnerton |
Three woman all very different and born in different eras, but all had one thing in common art. They made things happen, changed views and used art to express how tragedy caused pain.They demonstrated how you may deal with that pain by using art to express your inner turmoil without speaking it. These were just some of the women that were pioneers for future woman artists, who now have the same privilege as their male counterparts. These three women are just a small percentage of other female artists that paved the way for future generations. So from me and everyone “Thank you”.
References
Art Storey (ND) Frida Kahlo Mexican Painter https://www.theartstory.org/artist-kahlo-frida-life-and-legacy.htm [18.1.19]
Allen C & Morris P (2018) Annie Swynnerton Painter and Pioneer. Winchester: Sarsen Press
Bakewell, L. (1993). Frida Kahlo: A Contemporary Feminist Reading. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 13(3), 165-189. doi:10.2307/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3346753?read-now=1&seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents
Cohen, E. (2000). The Trials of Artemisia Gentileschi: A Rape as History. The Sixteenth Century Journal, 31(1), 47-75. doi:10.2307/2671289
FridaKahlo.Org (2011) Frida Kahlo Biography https://www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsp [accessed 15.1.19]
Gotthardt A in Art (ND) Behind the Fierce, Assertive Paintings of Baroque Master Artemisia Gentileschi. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-baroque-master-artemisia-gentileschi [accessed 19.12.19]
National Gallery (ND) Artist A-Z Artemisia Gentileschi. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/artemisia-gentileschi [accessed 19.12.18]
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