Female Artists and Fellow Male Artists
Frida Kahlo. Georgia O’Keefe. Lee Krasner. Each of these unique women had something in common; they shared their lives with male artists. Was this fortunate or misfortunate? Let us consider…
Frida Kahlo is perhaps one of the most well known female artists of the 20th century, and the first portion of her career was spent married to fellow artist, Diego Rivera. In her 1931 painting entitled Frida and Diego Rivera, she shows them together, placing herself in the standard female role of the time as the supporting wife. She also clothes herself in standard Mexican clothing, as suggested by Rivera. The painting, done by Kahlo herself as made evident by the inscription, reflects the effect Rivera had on Kahlo. Kahlo chooses to portray herself as Rivera and the public wanted to see her. In reality, Kahlo was a strong, independent woman.Following her separation from Rivera, Kahlo changed her art style and began focusing more on the theme of the great female goddess and empowering women, such as The Embrace of Love of the Universe.
In the case of Georgia O’Keefe, her husband Alfred Stieglitz encouraged her to express her inner woman by painting flowers. Like Kahlo, O’Keefe followed the suggestion of her husband, despite her own interests. Because O’Keefe was assumed to be expressing her inner woman, the public sexually interpreted her paintings. This was actually not the case, with O’Keefe saying, “I hate flowers—I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move (Goergie O'Keefe).” After Stieglitz’s death, O’Keefe moved to New Mexico and began painting what she was interested in. Her new paintings, such as Rancho Churh, New Mexico, were of buildings and bones—the complete opposite of her pretty, sexualized flowers, such as Music-Pink and Blue II.
For Lee Krasner, her marriage to famous abstract artist Jackson Pollock inhibited her art career. She was often overlooked, being seen merely as his wife rather than a unique art creator. Biography’s “Lee Krasner-Mini Bio” says Pollock made their barn into his studio, while Krasner was left with a small bedroom. As a result, she could only make small artwork. It was not until after Pollock’s death that Krasner began making large abstracts and was truly able to be seen as a unique artist, rather than “Mrs. Jackson Pollock.”
In the case of each of these women, their artwork created while married to fellow male artists was often not a true representation of their interest and ability. In each case, the death of their husband proved to be a freeing experience, and the true art style of the woman began to shine through.
Reference: "Georgia O'Keeffe Quotes." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2017. 27 November 2017. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/georgia_okeeffe_137301