WOMEN IN ART: ELAINE DE KOONING

Many of you have heard of Willem de Kooning, the widely known Abstract Expressionist Painter. But not many of you have heard of his wife, Elaine de Kooning, Figurative Expressionist Painter. Being very active in the Abstract Expressionist movement in the early 20th Century, Elaine de Kooning was a member of the Eighth Street Club in New York City, which rarely gave memberships to women. Especially during the Abstract Expressionist movement, women were not valued as much as their male counterparts. Which led Elaine de Kooning to sign her works with her initials, to prevent being labeled as feminine.

Elaine de Kooning, Fairfield Porter, 1954, oil on canvas

So a little about Elaine de Kooning's art career: As a figurative artist, de Kooning often painted portraits. Her subjects were mainly fellow artists from poets to choreographers, however she did paint John F. Kennedy as well. In fact, Elaine de Kooning kept painting JFK and made an entire series of portraits of him, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. "Portraiture always fascinated me because I love the particular gesture of a particular expression or stance... Working on the figure, I wanted paint to sweep through as feelings sweep through..." You can tell in her work as well that there is a lot of color and heavy influence from other abstract expressionist artists at this time including her husband Willem.

Elaine de Kooning, Thomas B. Hess, 1956, oil on canvas

Elaine de Kooning in her Manhattan studio in 1964. She is with her John F. Kennedy series of paintings

Later in her life Elaine de Kooning was inspired by paleolithic cave paintings of Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. Which really shows her knowledge of color, movement, and line through abstract representative imagery.

Elaine de Kooning, Bull, 1958, oil on canvas, New York University Art Collection

Besides being a painter, Elaine de Kooning was also a writer and wrote from Art News magazine, writing many articles about famous artists. She also taught in many colleges later on in her life. Truly an intelligent and iconic female artist, Elaine de Kooning sadly gets overshadowed by her husband Willem de Kooning. But her work is very crucial to the Abstract Expressionist movement and Art History and should not be ignored.

WOMEN IN ART: ALICE NEEL

Throughout my education and while visiting various museums and shows I've had a chance to see many paintings by Alice Neel. Yet, up until now I haven't actually learned about her as an artist. To start, Alice Neel was an American Portrait Painter. But her life wasn't easy, she struggled and broke barriers as a female artist.
Born in 1900, Neel was taught that she wouldn't make an impact in the world because she was a woman. But she went on to pursue her art career and she took classes in art and eventually enrolled in Art School. While in school she met her husband Carlos Enriquez and she moved to Hanava with him learning more about Cuban avant-garde arts. When in this situation Alice Neel began to take her stance in political consciousness and equality for women.

Alice Neel in her studio in Harlem, 1944

A year later Alice and Carlos had a daughter, Santillana, who died a year later from diphtheria. The lose of her daughter was so strong that she portrayed themes of lose, motherhood, and anxiety in her paintings. Not long after the loss of Santillana, Neel had a second child, Isabella Lillian, in New York City. After her birth, Neel painted "Well Baby Clinic" which more resembles mothers and babies in an insane asylum than in a maternity ward. And a few year after that Carlos took Isabetta back to Cuba and in reaction to the lose of her husband and daughter, Neel broke down and was hospitalized and attempted suicide.

Alice Neel, Well Baby Clinic, 1928, oil on canvas, Private Collection

At about this time it was the Depression Era, Alice was lucky to work for the Works Progress Administration and was hired to make paintings. During this time she was seeing heroin addict and sailor, Kenneth Doolittle who set fire to 350 of her watercolors, paintings and drawings a few years later.

Alice Neel, Kenneth Dolittle, 1931, oil on canvas, Tate Modern, London

She then began to surround herself with artists, intellectuals, and political leaders for the Communist Party, who she also painted. This allowed her to become a well known and respected artist. She gave birth to another child, Richard, of her lover Jose Santiago moving to Spanish Harlem and painting her neighbors.

Alice Neel, The Spanish Family, 1943, oil on canvas, Private Collection

After Jose left she gave birth to another son, Hartley, of her lover community intellectual, Sam Brody. As for her art career, she was illustrating for Masses & Mainstream but her work for the Works Progress Administration stopped soon after leading to Alice Neel having to struggle to make ends meet. In the end of the 1960s, Neel's work gained interest because of the Women's Movement which led to Neel becoming an icon for many feminists. She became of celebrity status when she was awarded with a National Women's Caucus for Art award by President Jimmy Carter.

Alice Neel's painting of Kate Millett for the cover of TIME Magazine, August 31 1970

Alice Neel, Andy Warhol, 1970, oil on canvas, Whitney Museum, New York

Alice Neel's Website has tons of information about her life and her work: www.aliceneel.com

AMERICAN PORTRAITURE: PRESIDENTS

(continued from last post)
Later on in my project I was able to visit the National Portrait Gallery and see many different collections. But I’ll just start with the Presidents Collection so we can compare. When you think of all of the Portraits of Presidents, especially the official ones, you think of strength and power. Which is exactly what you get in the first few Presidents portraits, like George Washington’s:

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 

(http://face2face.si.edu/my_weblog/2013/02/george-washington-the-first-face-of-america.html) 

In comparison, Lincoln’s portrait shows him sitting in a chair, ready to jump up at any moment and also with a pondering expression. This posture alone shows how he thinks before jumping into action, but also is ready to go and help out our country. There is still a great amount of power shown in this painting, because of the detail in the chair and the very perfect lighting (This portrait is in the White House)

Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy, oil on canvas, 1869, State Dining Room in the White House

 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_%28Healy%29)

Now compare this portraits to the ones done by Thomas Eakins. See how humble they look? No wonder no one wanted a commission from him when you could be painted like a President!

Moving into the more current Presidents I again noticed a shift. Presidents began to look more like ordinary men. For instance, the portrait of George W. Bush: 

George W. Bush by Robert Anderson, oil on canvas, 2009

 (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/george-w-bushs-portrait-at-national-portrait-gallery-34317269/)

In this portrait he is not wearing a jacket AND he’s sitting on a couch (and not a fancy couch) looking at you like you just said your daughter just got accepted to go to college. This is a more casual, reach out to the people, I’m one of you moves. Presidents now are trying to not be as high and mighty but relatable. This pose is very comfortable, but it shows off his nice watch, and it shows off his hands (which generally means hard working). Now we see pictures all the time, so we’ve seen tons of pictures and videos of George W. Bush. Back when George Washington and Lincoln got their portraits done, people across the country didn’t see them as often so the impact of their pose and power was awe-worthy.

These are just some of the things I learned. There is definitely more to come with portraiture.

AMERICAN PORTRAITURE: THOMAS EAKINS

This past summer I had the chance to work on a research project I created. My topic was Class in American Portraiture in a Historic context and Contemporary.  During this project I was able to travel around to different museums to get a better understanding of portraiture.

The first place we went was the Philadelphia Museum of Art, home of a collection of Thomas Eakins paintings and sculptures. When we walked into the section that had a group of Eakins portraits gridded on the wall we just saw people. I had no idea why these would be so important to my research. Well, Thomas Eakins portraits were very different from most portraits during this time. They were humble, some considered them ugly, and they were hardly ever liked. One portrait he did of a school teacher we dissected:

Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Lucy Lewis, oil on canvas, 1896, Philadelphia Museum of Art

 (http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/thomas-eakins/portrait-of-lucy-lewis-1896)

Even though this is one of the only portraits that he painted someone with delicate beauty, she still fit the group in which he painted: middle class, educated, and active in her career. He painted all his portraits as if the person was sitting right next to you. There is no separation between the viewer and the sitter. Think to when you see a portrait of a President, there is this separation where they are more important than you, in this other world. This is very different than Eakins, and why he rarely received commissions for portraits. Moving on: 

Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Mary Adeline Williams, oil on canvas, 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art

 (http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/thomas-eakins/portrait-of-mary-adeline-williams)

This portrait of Mary Adeline Williams. Comparing the two portraits, you can see how he paints them very raw and only hints at their money or success. For instance, in this portrait her energetic blouse shows she isn’t poor and represents her mood. In the Portrait of Lucy Lewis, she is wearing a tiny gold necklace which Eakins just slightly makes glimmer. 

In the next post I will do a comparison to the National Portraits of the Presidents!