Women Modernist Artists Painted More Than Just Vagina Flowers

by Anastasia K Zimitravich

Family Supper, circa 1921-1922 Marguerite Thompson Zorach, 1887-1968
All art is the resulting trend of a change in philosophical thought. American modernism on the whole arose from technological advancement during the first World Wars, opting to present a new reality, one of a more modernized world. The development of feminism has played a role in modernist art since the early 19th century. Struggling with notions of inadequacies of culture, biology, and mental health, female modern artists struggled to find a place that permitted equal treatment while shedding sociological brainwashing that was holding them back. Existing alongside a rise in popularized Freudian theories, feminine artists like Georgia O’Keeffe sought to expose sexuality through multi-layered meaning (see close-ups of vagina-flowers). This exhibit at the Norton Museum of Art in Florida showcases female modernists in New York, displaying turn-of-the-century industrialization, sexuality, race relations and, of course, jazz.

1. Zorach-BathersBathers, circa 1913-1914 Marguerite Thompson Zorach, 1887-1968

3. Zorach - Family SupperFamily Supper, circa 1921-1922 Marguerite Thompson Zorach, 1887-1968

4. Zorach-West 10th StreetWest 10th Street, circa 1922 Marguerite Thompson Zorach, 1887-1968

8. Stettheimer - Portrait of MyselfPortrait of Myself, 1923 Florine Stettheimer, 1871-1944

9. Torr - Evening Sounds - MFA BostonEvening Sounds, circa 1925-30 Helen Torr, 1886-1967

12. Torr I Smith CollegeI, 1935 Helen Torr, 1886-1967

17. OKeeffe - Jack in pulpit no. iv - NGAJack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, 1930 Georgia O’Keeffe, 1887-1986

20. OKeeffe - Horses skull - LACMAHorse’s Skull with Pink Rose, 1931 Georgia O’Keeffe, 1887-1986

See O’Keeffe, Stettheimer, Torr, Zorach: Women Modernists in New York at the
Norton Museum of Art, February 18, 2016-May 15, 2016
Portland Museum of Art, Maine, June 23, 2016-September 18, 2016
Curator: Ellen E. Roberts, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Curator of American Art, Norton Museum of Art

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