The Women of Art: November 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Art in the Hills Gallery

Located at Crafton Hills College

Curated by Art.2

The work that we show is centered on women artists in history and modern times.

The Women of Art

Fetured in this Exhibit are:

Alice Bailly

Leonora Carrington

Lavinia Fontana

Fede Galizia

Brenda Goodman

Frida Kahlo

Tamara de Lempicka

Barbra Longhi

Yelizaveta Nersesova

Beatrice Wood

The show is about the type of art women created in the past as well as pieces that are a bit more modern. Each artist has an individual take on how they portray their world, most of which being done through self-portraits. As it is evident in the art world, women do not get as much attention as they sometimes deserve. This exhibit was put together to showoff the work of both recognizable female artists, as well as those who aren’t as well known. We dedicate this Exhibition to them.

Yelizaveta Nersesova

2010-2011

Yelizaveta Nersesova has been a successful Op art artist in the Dallas, Texas area , her works have included ink to physical pottery works of art each of these works has a commonality within the works of art. This common feature that occurs in each and every piece of work is the use of never-ending lines of shapes weather it is a simple square or to the complicated spirals that she places in the works of art.

http://nersesova.com/

Self Portrait 61

Brenda Goodman

Self Portrait 61

2007

52x48”

Oil on wood

One of many self-portraits Brenda created through out her professional career. Goodman quoted, “I had a desire to paint myself much more naturalistically; I felt it was important not to have a veil between me and my feelings, between me and the viewer. I wanted the work to be open. So much contemporary painting is not open . . . you can't penetrate it. You have no clue who the artist is, or why they're even doing what they're doing. Which is fine – I mean you can paint for different reasons and come from different places. But for me, it's always been crucial that I reveal myself, share my journey."

http://www.brendagoodman.com/recent_40.htm

Beatrice Wood

· Blue Luster Double Necked Bottle with Braided Decorations

· Earthenware

· 9 x 5 7/8 inches

· 1969

· Born in 1893 in San Francisco, Ca and died in 1998

· Was a Dadaist

http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=34940

Without Hope

Frida Kahlo

Without Hope

1945

Oil on canvas mounted on masonite (a metal substitute used during WWII)
11”x14-1/4’’

The artist depicts herself in bed due to malnutrition (as result of loss of appetite due to many surgeries). As a treatment her food was pureed and fed to her. The wooden structure is her easel, which once held her works of art, now is holding the funnel that force-feeds her. Her hands seem to be constrained under her sheets and she is left hopeless within her bed.

On the back of the painting Frida inscribed the following entry, "Not the least hope remains for me.... everything moves in step with what's in the belly."

http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/frida_kahlo/Frida-Kahlo---Without-Hope--1945.htm

The Inn of the Dawn Horse Self Portrait 1936

Leonora Carrington

The Inn of the Dawn Horse Self Portrait 1936

Oil on Canvas

74 x 94 cm

1936

Leonora Carrington, born in 1917 and died in 2011 was one of last few woman surrealists. In her painting the hyena stands as a symbol as the fertile world of the night and the white horse symbols rebirth and the world beyond. Her lover, Max Ernst, was taken prisoner in World War II. This is when her work changed from themes of childhood to Celtic mythology and alchemic transformation. Losing Max caused her to have a number of mental breakdowns some of which resulted in her being institutionalized by her family.

“Painting is a need, not a choice.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/arts/design/leonora-carrington-surrealist-dies-at-94.html

Tamara in the Green Bugatti

Tamara de Lempicka

Tamara in the Green Bugatti

Oil on Canvas

26x 35 cm

1925

Tamara was born in Russia but left during the Russian revolution and made it to Paris where she flourished. She was born into a wealthy family but upon her parents divorce decided to forge her own way and met her husband Tadeusz Lempicka. She Painted Tamara in the Green Bugatti for the cover of a German fashion magazine Die Dame. The subject in the painting is herself as a strong woman, a cold beauty. Her helmet and gloves signify her independence.

“I live life in the margins of society, and the rules of normal society don’t apply to those who live on the fringe.”

http://www.tamara-de-lempicka.org/Self-Portrait-in-the-Green-Bugatti.html

Alice Bailly

Alice Bailly (Swiss, 1872-1938)
Self-Portrait
1917
Oil on canvas, 32 x 23 1/2 in.

Alice Bailly was born February 25, 1872 in Geneva. She was a Swiss painter and multi-media artist. Alice attended Ecol d Art in Geneva, where she studied under Hugues Bovy and Denise Sarkissof. In 1904 she lived in Paris until World War I where she was influenced by many well known great artist, Alice was influenced by Fauvism, Futurism and cubism. Alice Bailly was best known for her 50 tableaux-laine (tables wool) works of art. Tableaux-laine is works of art Alice did using colored strands of wool as a painter would apply brush strokes. Alice was also know for mixed media art, she would combine such things as oil paint with colored paper, bronze foil, glass beads and, felt. Alice died in 1938 of Tuberculosis. Our theme is self-portraits of women artists; I picked this painting by Alice Bailly because of influence of fauvism, futurism and cubism. To me her self-portrait is not one you would typically see from a woman of her era.

Lavinia Fontana

Italian, 1552-1614

Lavinia Fontana was born and raised in a major art center (Bologna) and was related to a successful male artist (her father, Prospero Fontana). However, she was unusual in that she was commissioned to make not only portraits, which were the typical subject matter for women painters, but also religious and mythological themes, which sometimes included female nudes. Due to her immense popularity in the noble families, Lavinia Fontana became the official portraitist at the court of Pope Paul V and was the recipient of numerous honors.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/women/images/fontana_big.jpg

Fede Galizia

Fede Galizia

· Judith with the Head of Holofernes

· Oil on canvas

· 120 x 94 cm

· 1596

· Still life painter

· Born in Milan, Italy in 1578

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Beheading_Holofernes

Barbra Longhi

This presumed self-portrait belongs to Barbra Longhi, as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. She was born in Italy on the 21^st of September 1552. Barbra Italian painter, she was much admired in her lifetime for her work. Even though most of her work was lost or unattributed. Her work, such as her many Madonna and child paintings, earned her a fine reputation as an artist. The painting is oil and canvas. It is rather small measuring 18x14 inches. Barbra’s style consisted of mannerism, which is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. The reason why I chose this particular self-portrait is because her facial expression drew me into the painting. Her small lips, chubby face, and big eyes make her look so innocent. I considerably like the value as well as the positioning of her body.

http://bjws.blogspot.com/2011/06/woman-artist-italian-barbara-longhi.html

Conclusion

As a group we learned that it is easy to put together an exhibition as long as there is a common theme. Without the general theme there would be no real significance in putting this together. This process of creating this exhibition came naturally to us because we talked about different pieces from different artists throughout the semester, so we had a great idea of what was expected from us. The only challenge was selecting a theme. There were many topics we were interested in. Much of the discussion went into finding one that appealed to all group members, and that would benefit our class. The challenges of curating an exhibit are choosing a theme, and applying knowledge of artistic values and art history. Without this knowledge the exhibit would not have the structure needed to help the viewer grasp the works. The historical background explains to the curator the significance of the pieces and would bring order to the exhibition. We found it easy to connect artists with our theme because women have not been included in traditional art history. We wanted to show women and the amazing pieces they have to offer.