Modernist female painters

In the history of art, the term modern is used to refer to a period dating from roughly
the 1860s through the 1970s and describes the style and ideology of art produced during
that era. It is this more specific use of modern that is intended when people speak of
modern art. The term modernism is also used to refer to the art of the modern period.
More specifically, modernism can be thought of as referring to the philosophy of modern
art.
Conservative modernists, the so-called academic painters of the 19th and early 20th
centuries, believed they were doing their part to improve the world. Conservative
modernists presented images that contained or reflected good conservative moral values, or
served as examples of virtuous behavior, or offered inspiring Christian sentiment.
Generally, conservative modernists selected subject matter that showed examples of
righteous conduct and noble sacrifice that was intended to serve as a model which all good
citizens should aspire to emulate. In contrast to conservative modernism, progressive
modernists, who were the painters of the new groups formed in the 20th century, adopted an
antagonistic position towards society and its established institutions, which challenged all
authority in the name of freedom and, intentionally or not, affronted conservative middleclass values.
Fundamentally, the intention was to educate the public, to keep alive in the face of
conservative forces the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality through which the
world would be made a better place.
Modernist British painters
The generation of modernist painters in England originated in the Slade art school
(1871) in London. There emerged different groups with its own objectives visions and
styles.

The Camden Town group (1911): Influenced by impressionism, this group focused
their attention in the urban contemporaneous world: the streets and gardens of
London, and domestic spaces and lifestyles. The Camden Town Group held just
three exhibitions in 191112, but its name has become synonymous with a
distinctive period in the history of British art before the First World War.
Some female painters from this group are: Stanislawa de Karlowska, Silvia Gosse,
Nan (Anna Hope) Hudson, Ethel Sands.
The Bloomsbury group (1914): It was founded by a group of friends which
consisted on mainly writers and painters. Some important figures were the
economist John Maynard Keyness and writers Virginia Woolf and E.M Forster. Its
style was characterized by decorative and figurative art and also, abstract designs in
clay. The group created the Omega textile workshops whose co-directors were

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. The important woman painters from this group
were Dora Carrington and Vanessa Bell and her daughter Angelica Garnett.
The vorticism group (1913): Its members were important writers and painters,
among them were Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound. The term vorticism alluded to
the idea of a vortex or a whirlwind of energy whose center is appease. Their style
was futuristic, with influences of cubism and figurative painting. Its women
members were: Jessica Dismorr and Helen Saunders.
Other painters: Gwen John, Mary Adshead, Hellen Allingham, Dame Laura knight,
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Anna Lea Merritt.

American modernist painters:

The generation of modernist painting in the United Stated consisted of young and
women who were fine art students of different circles like the Ashcan Circle (1900) or the
Pennsylvania group (1913) and illustrators of newspapers. Many of them had studied in
Rome and Paris. Their style was characterized by depictions of daily life within the cities,
but the rural spaces were also included. Their style was abstract, figurative, and
impressionistic.
The most important female painters were: Mary Cassatt, Susan Macdowell Eakins,
Cecilia Beaux, Violet Oakley, Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, Hilda Belcher, Sara Carles and
Georgia O Keffe.

Mexican Modernism
At the same time, Mexico was living a particular time in its history. Just after a revolution,
the political and social climate was still tense. However, this prepared the scene to some of
the most famous artists of the country such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and
Jose Orozco. The artistic movement they were into was called muralismo (muralism), and
its aim was to use the art in the walls to educate people, to generate a reaction in them.
Another major movement in Mexico at the time was surrealism; names like Frida Kahlo
and Leonora Carrington are the most important for this movement. Other female painters
of the time are Olga Costa, Mara Izquierdo and Remedios Varo. The term Modernism
should not be confused with the literary movement called Modernismo, which was a
literary movement in the late 19th and early 20th century in Spain and America (Spanish
speaking countries).
Frida Kahlo: (1907-1954) She was a self-taught painter, renowned for her self-portraits,
which are very relevant to the feminist movement, since they attempt to portray her
experiences about her body and suffering due to several complications she had, like the
polio, which she contracted when she was six and a bus accident that injured her

severely; this experience disabled her for months, and it was the time when she started
to paint her famous self-portraits, expressing her painful experiences after all the health
complications she had to deal with. In 1929 she married Diego Rivera, who was a great
influence for her work. Her works are usually classified as surrealist and expressionist.
She used bright colors and symbols to express her love for the Mexican indigenous
culture. She also paints the experience of living during the revolutionary period in
Mexico.
Mara Izquierdo: (1902-1955) Mexican Painter, in 1930 her work was held in an
exhibition in the United States, which makes her the first female painter to have her
paintings exhibited in said country. She attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico
City, where her paintings were exhibited first, gaining the praise of some of the most
important artistic critics. Some of her works were also exhibited in Paris some years
later. Her style is famous for portraying her Mexican roots and traditions, the use of
bright colors and juxtapositions. She is usually compared to Frida Kahlo and her work,
bur the difference is notorious since Kahlos work portrayed a personal approach and
experience. She never said she was part of the surrealist movement, but critics identify
her work with that category.

Leonora Carrington: (1917-2011) British born painter and writer. In 1937 she meets who
will later become her husband, Marx Ernst, who also introduced her to the surrealist
movement and other important artists such as Andr Breton, Salvador Dal and Pablo
Picasso. In 1942 she arrives at Mexico.

Remedios Varo: (1908-1963) Spanish-Mexican surrealist painter. During her early years
she lived in France for a short period of time, where she became heavily influenced by
the surrealist movement. During the Nazi occupation of France she moved to Mexico.
Some of her paintings portray women in small spaces, since the male surrealists never
took seriously women trying to enter this tradition. Later, she developed a unique style
based on her own image, and kept on showing her position over the misogynistic
position of some artists by not taking women artists serious.

Bibliography:
Mohun, Janet ed. Arte: La gua visual definitva 1900-1945. Espaa: Dorling Kindersley,
2010.
Gerrish Nun, Pamela. From Victorian to Modern: Laura Knight, Vanessa Bell, Gwen John
1890-1920. Manchester: Phillip Wilson Publishers, 2010.