Existing comment:
Goddess of Love, Goddess of Liberty
Hung Liu knew this portrait would provoke viewers when she created it in 1989. She had been in the United States for five years and watched from afar as violence overtook Tiananmen Square. The central black-and white image was inspired by a photograph from around 1900. At the time, bare, bound feet were never shown publicly in China,
and that fact, coupled with the figure's pose, led the artist to surmise that whoever photographed this woman must have paid to take her picture.
The painting of a porcelain cup evokes the idea that women are "contained vessels," and further symbolism is conveyed in the artwork's three-dimensional components. For example, the Chinese character for broom is nearly identical to the Chinese character for "wife," and men often call their wives "old humble broom." Painted when
"soldiers swept away the blood of massacre," the broom adds yet another layer of meaning to the events that were unfolding in real time.
Oil on canvas with wooden bowls, slate, and broom, 1989
Dallas Museum of Art; Museum League Purchase Fund |