Rahmeh Abdulaal
Women And Art
Post 3

Modernism and Post Modernism

        Modernism was a movement that lasted from the 1800s till the late 1900s. A movement of acceptance of new values and traditions. A movement of free expression not only in art matters,  but also in the cultural, political, and economic matters and etc. It was looked at as a time of different art, where artists from Europe used different materials and different approach to their imaginations to create a new version of art."In Western Art, movement and the 'isms' appeared one after another; Impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, dadaism, surrealism, expressionism, etc. Put them all together what do we get? Modernism" (GG, 59). Modernism was known as a time period of rational thinking. A cultural movement that promoted universal discovery. Foucing on the art aspect of modernism, new fashion, art techniques, and the use of different fabrics and incorporating that into art became the center of the art movement. Many women artists started doing self- conscious art, where women used their own naked bodies as a form of their art, and a new form of expressing different feelings through their body figure. For example, Paula Modersohn and Suzanna Valadon were one of the first female artists to take the big step into using their own bodies for their artwork. 

Self-Portrait of Paua Modersohn-Becker from 1906 when she was pregnant.

         In the book "Women, Art, and Society" Whitney Chadwick explains modernism saying its "The emergence of a self-conscious set of practices and characteristics through which the modern in art is understood developed gradually and coincided with the appearance of the first generation of women artists with more or less equal access to artistic training” (Chadwick, 279). Women artists during that time period wanted self-recognition and gave no attention to the norms that existed in their society at that time. However, they might not be accepted by society or family members, they still thought it was brave. After the hard work to get recognized, there were still some differences in the society during that time period, which claimed men as the only artists and women artists do not exist, even though men used women in their art and viewed them and painted them as powerless and sexual. Chadwick goes on in her book to explain this, saying "Modern artists from Renoir (“I paint with my prick”) to Picasso (“Painting, that is actual lovemaking”) have collaborated infusing with the sexual and the artistic by equating artistic creation with male sexual energy, presenting women as powerless and sexually subjugated”(Chadwick, 279).

Not only was this a time period where the art industry flourished, but it was also a time of new innovations in the art. Not only did women artists started using their own body figure in their art, but they also used fabric. Fabric became a popular and a product that was in high demand during that time period. It was used for many purposes, mainly for clothing. However, female artists used fabric to create art, it created fashion. The use of fabric and different textiles and fashion in the art industry by female artists made the art more noticeable and eye-catching. Another big thing that started is Dada art, Chadwick says that “The Dada contempt for traditional painting as a static, materialistic form, unable to communicate the vitality of modern life, found a sympathetic spirit in Delaunay, but it was her employment of a variety of media and her liberal attitude to breaking down the distinction between art and craft that probably inspired the Dadaists”(Chadwick,272).

A picture of women wearing Sonia Delaunay's appliqued coat. 

Post Modernism was around 1970s, right after the Modernism period. However, by this time, two world wars have occurred which changed people's views and ideologies, which ended up affecting the art industry, especially female artists. During this time period, female artists wanted to try or experiment with something different, especially after the changes they dealt with, through feminism, and women empowerment movements. Women during this time period focused mostly on gender roles and sexism, two of the main topics that are still controversial until this day. Female artists used their artwork to express and teach these ideas to the rest of their society and the world. Marthe Rosler created a sarcastic film about women in the kitchen, where she was standing in the kitchen showing how to use each kitchen utensil, is an example of the many artwork pieces that were created at that time to mock women's role in society, and to try and change that ideology in people's head.  

A still from "Semiotics of the kitchen" by Martha Rosler

Work Cited:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Whats-The-Difference-Between-Modernism-and-Postmodernism

The Guerrilla Girls, The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (New York, Penguin       Books, 1998)