Museums Show Women in Positive Light
Adam Selene
Tue Jul 30, 7:55 AM ET
By CARL HARTMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Women's achievements, their place in society and the
way their beauty has been idealized are getting special attention from
capital museums this summer.
Four important exhibits present a variety of viewpoints.
American women who broke new ground dominate the first show of the
year by the National Portrait Gallery, beginning with Pocahontas. Her
only known likeness displays her in elaborate costume, possibly for
her presentation to King James I of England. She crossed the Atlantic
with her settler husband John Rolfe to raise money for colonists in
Virginia.
Among the 61 figures is Marilyn Monroe, the sex symbol baring arms and
shoulders in the Korean winter for the entertainment of American
troops. Black opera singer Marian Anderson stands in front of the
Lincoln Memorial, where she sang in defiance of the racial
discrimination that kept her out of Constitution Hall in 1939.
There's also Jackie Joyner-Kersee ( news - web sites), perhaps
America's best all-around female athlete.
"These role models may vary in their accomplishments, but they are all
bound together by their uncommon supply of determination," said
gallery director Mark Pachter.
The exhibit can be seen through Dec. 2.
Determination marks the female artists of the later 1900s in the show
called "Feminism and Art" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
It includes a documentary film lasting 80 minutes called "Not for
Sale" that catalogs the work of feminist painters and performers of
the 1970s.
"Superwoman," by Austrian artist Kiki Kogelnik, is a notable example
of female assertiveness. It includes an image that museum staff say
strongly resembles Kogelnik herself, posing with a huge pair of
scissors, though it is not listed officially as a self-portrait.
Kogelnik, who died in 1997, specialized in larger-than-life figures,
some with props apparently designed to make the viewer uncomfortable.
The show closes Aug. 11.
Two other shows deal with contrasting periods and atmospheres.
"American Beauties" at the Library of Congress ( news - web sites)
illustrates how popular artists thought American "girls" of the late
1800s and early 1900s should look. Covers of popular magazines and
widely reprinted ads gave the images wide circulation.
Icons of the period include the demure "Gibson girl," popularized by
Charles Dana Gibson, playing a violin; the frilly "Brinkley girl," of
Nell Brinkley, shown seductively selling war bonds; and the "Benda
girl" of Polish-born Wladyslaw Benda, a smooth, emotionless portrait
head.
The show will be on view through Sept. 28.
More aspiring artists of the same period depicted women of the moneyed
classes in the roles of mother, housewife and sheer domestic ornament.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art calls its exhibit "The Gilded Cage." It's
a reference to the novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that
depicts Washington life after the Civil War: "The Gilded Age."
It features Mary Cassatt's handsome "Young Girl at a Window," possibly
an expatriate American like Cassatt herself, in a Paris apartment. The
museum's description of the picture suggests that the balcony railing
she leans on is a barrier between her domestic life and the varied
activity of the city below.
The show closes Aug. 27.
___
On the Net:
National Museum of Women in the Arts: www.nmwa.org
Library of Congress: www.loc.gov
National Portrait Gallery: www.npg.si.edu
Corcoran Gallery of Art: www.corcoran.org
Ian
> Museums Show Women in Positive Light
>
> Tue Jul 30, 7:55 AM ET
> By CARL HARTMAN, Associated Press Writer
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - Women's achievements, their place in society and the
> way their beauty has been idealized are getting special attention from
> capital museums this summer.
>
> Four important exhibits present a variety of viewpoints.
>
> American women who broke new ground dominate the first show of the
> year by the National Portrait Gallery, beginning with Pocahontas. Her
> only known likeness displays her in elaborate costume, possibly for
> her presentation to King James I of England. She crossed the Atlantic
> with her settler husband John Rolfe to raise money for colonists in
> Virginia.
>
> Among the 61 figures is Marilyn Monroe, the sex symbol baring arms and
Marilyn Monroe. Hardly a strong woman.
> shoulders in the Korean winter for the entertainment of American
> troops. Black opera singer Marian Anderson stands in front of the
> Lincoln Memorial, where she sang in defiance of the racial
> discrimination that kept her out of Constitution Hall in 1939.
>
> There's also Jackie Joyner-Kersee ( news - web sites), perhaps
> America's best all-around female athlete.
Didn't she drop down dead amidst allegations that she used performance
enhancing drugs?
>
> "These role models may vary in their accomplishments, but they are all
> bound together by their uncommon supply of determination," said
(and drugs)
> gallery director Mark Pachter.
>
> The exhibit can be seen through Dec. 2.
>
Ooooh Art. That's useful.
> Determination marks the female artists of the later 1900s in the show
> called "Feminism and Art" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
> It includes a documentary film lasting 80 minutes called "Not for
> Sale" that catalogs the work of feminist painters and performers of
> the 1970s.
>
> "Superwoman," by Austrian artist Kiki Kogelnik, is a notable example
> of female assertiveness. It includes an image that museum staff say
> strongly resembles Kogelnik herself, posing with a huge pair of
> scissors, though it is not listed officially as a self-portrait.
>
> Kogelnik, who died in 1997, specialized in larger-than-life figures,
> some with props apparently designed to make the viewer uncomfortable.
> The show closes Aug. 11.
>
> Two other shows deal with contrasting periods and atmospheres.
>
> "American Beauties" at the Library of Congress ( news - web sites)
> illustrates how popular artists thought American "girls" of the late
> 1800s and early 1900s should look. Covers of popular magazines and
> widely reprinted ads gave the images wide circulation.
So. Women who were famous because of their looks. Useful.
>
> Icons of the period include the demure "Gibson girl," popularized by
> Charles Dana Gibson, playing a violin; the frilly "Brinkley girl," of
> Nell Brinkley, shown seductively selling war bonds; and the "Benda
> girl" of Polish-born Wladyslaw Benda, a smooth, emotionless portrait
> head.
>
> The show will be on view through Sept. 28.
>
> More aspiring artists of the same period depicted women of the moneyed
> classes in the roles of mother, housewife and sheer domestic ornament.
> The Corcoran Gallery of Art calls its exhibit "The Gilded Cage." It's
> a reference to the novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that
> depicts Washington life after the Civil War: "The Gilded Age."
>
> It features Mary Cassatt's handsome "Young Girl at a Window," possibly
> an expatriate American like Cassatt herself, in a Paris apartment. The
> museum's description of the picture suggests that the balcony railing
> she leans on is a barrier between her domestic life and the varied
> activity of the city below.
>
Ooooh! Art. Useful.
Michael Snyder
What would be NEWS, would be if Museums started showing
MEN in a positive light.