Modernism/Postmodernism

     There are many different forms of art that currently exist in the world such as drawings, sculptures, paintings, etc. Art has come in many different forms given the time period that it is in. An example of this is Impressionism during the Victorian era in which people were interested in light strokes captured in the moment. However, interest for that type has started to decrease due to the need to move on and find the next best style. The type of art that is deemed interesting to people depends on the message the piece itself tells others. This is due to art being a way for those to express themselves. Expression can come in different forms such as the male gaze which started to get a lot of attention during the Middle Ages. This is due to women at the time being treated less human and more as objects. Over time females have been starting to rebel because the amount of sexism put against them has made it really difficult for them to make their mark on society and history. Regardless, they did everything in their power to make themselves heard, and as a result, there are those who managed to present more equality for women. This came in the form of jobs, high positions in society, and even a place to put their work in museums which is still very difficult presently. For female artists, this came in the form of art movements over the centuries. The more time that has passed, the more women have come forward to make themselves heard, and one of those times is during modernism. Modernism is when artists were experimenting with different forms of art and seeing which ones would be effective for others to see influenced by politics and the ways of society, and this movement lasted from the late nineteenth century to the first few years after World War I. After this came the era of Postmodernism. Postmodernism is a time when people express themselves by questioning the things that are valuable in society therefore questioning the aspects of modernism. It started in the mid-twentieth century, and it still continues in the present. Whitney Chadwick and explain female artists who made their marks during both of these eras, as well as how their pieces have shaped them in her book, "Women, Art, and Society." During modernism, female artists make pieces based on their own belief of what art, and it goes against what male artists expect from them. After years of expressing themselves, they go into pieces questioning morality in postmodernism. 

Paula Modersohn-Becker, Mother and Child Lying Nude, 1907

     Here Modersohn-Becker expresses an issue with society that is known to be highly inappropriate, female nudity. Chadwick goes further into this by stating, "If Expressionism, as feminist art historians have argued, stands as a revolt of "sons" against "fathers," the relationships of Paula Modersohn-Becker, Kathe Kollwitz, among others, to German Expressionism is difficult to elucidate," (Chadwick 279). German Expressionism is a form of art where the artist makes something to spark emotions from the viewer. Given what is shown, Modersohn-Becker is most likely trying to get the viewer to see it as an adorable sight due to how mothers highly cherish their children. Males might see this as a revolt because this was made in the early 1900s, and it was when women were to be unexposed. Therefore, they could get the idea that they are trying to revolt against this ideal, and that sparks them to feel this way. Every individual is unique in certain aspects, so while some might see the artist's work as inspiring, others might see it as disturbing.

Suzanne Valadon, Grandmother and Young Girl Stepping into the Bath, c. 1908

     Valadon here has no shame exposing herself as a form of expression. Chadwick goes further into the message by stating, "Confronted with Valadon's powerful nudes, critics were unable to sever nude from its status as a signifier for male creativity; instead they severed Valadon (not a respectable middle-class woman) from her femininity and allowed her to circulate as a pseudo-male, complete with "masculine power" and "virility,"' (Chadwick 282). Whenever people go into an art exhibit or museum, they mostly see the work of men. There were not a lot of well known female artists during the time of modernism. In the art world, women are more known for exposing themselves in the work of men. A male artist who does a nude painting gets a lot of attention. An artist who gets more attention gets more power because one is more recognized when he/she is known. Here Valadon gets more power by exposing herself because an action normally committed by men is committed by a woman. Even though it is not common for a woman to do something like this, it has gotten her more attention than male artists. It most likely has to do with the fact it is a female exposing a female body. This makes the expression behind the piece more powerful because it is her experience that is being shown. Chadwick goes further into this by stating, "Marginalized in the aesthetic and political debates swirling around modern art movements in the early decades of the twentieth century, many women turned to the female body as a primary subject of a woman's experience," (Chadwick 282). Chadwick exposes to her readers that during the era of modernism, the best way to truly understand the experience of a woman is her body. Everything that a female goes through whether it is sexism, stuck as a housewife, being told to be seen and not heard, has an effect on her body, and Valadon expressed it in her piece. A woman doing this has a bigger effect because everything she goes through is being told. Men may also paint women, but they can not express the same message as females because they did not experience all of the femininity.

Lumida Himid, Freedom and Change, 1984

     Art in Postmodernism differs tremendously from the work of the previous two artists. This is due to instead of focusing on the ideals of women, it focuses on the ideals of society. Chadwick states, "The fact that Postmodernism draws heavily on existing representations, rather than inventing new styles, and it often derives its imagery from mass media or popular culture, has focused on ways that sexual and cultural difference are produced and reinforced in these images," (Chadwick 382). Chadwick dives deeper on the new ways by stating, "Himid's painting, Freedom and Change (1984), and her reworking of Picasso's Three Musicians as a mural for black art center in London challenge the Modernists's artist's appropriations of African tribal masks and ceremonial figures," (Chadwick 388). Chadwick shows her readers how artists are expressing their work in a way that fights different types of discrimination. This is due to movements involving racism was part of the trend, and artists were keeping up with it.

Faith Ringgold, The Wedding: Lover's Quilt No. 1, 1986

     However, one thing female artists in both movements do have in common is the need to defend their gender. Chadwick states, "Ringgold also establishes a powerful voice for the black female artist within the spaces of modernism from which she had previously been excluded, except as model and servant. Rinngold's use of narrativity in the production of new feminine identities was shared by other artists, many of whom had been shaped by 1970s feminism," (Chadwick 416-417). Artists from Postmodernism also support the idea of females having a voice in society. The only way they can have this is by expressing themselves to be heard, and this ideal came from the female artists of Modernism. Even though Postmodernism takes the concept of the old ways and shapes it differently, the ways of Modernism is still being used. 

Work's Cited

“43.” Lubaina Himid: Revision • 43 - Spring/Summer 2017 • Afterall, www.afterall.org/journal/issue.43/lubaina-himid-revision.

Bedworth, ByCandy. “Paula Modersohn Becker, Reclining Mother and Child II.” DailyArtMagazine.com - Art History Stories, 2 June 2019, www.dailyartmagazine.com/paula-modersohn-becker-mother-and-child/.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, And Society. Thames & Hudson, 2007.

“Pin by Frogs in the Art Room on Artists ~ Faith Ringgold: Faith Ringgold, Faith, Quilts.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.ca/pin/441071357225713822/.


Valadon, Suzanne. “Nude Getting into the Bath beside the Seated Grandmother, 1908 - Suzanne Valadon.” Www.wikiart.org, 1 Jan. 1970, www.wikiart.org/en/suzanne-valadon/nude-getting-into-the-bath-beside-the-seated-grandmother-1908.