Existing comment:
Early Twentieth Century
The first half of the twentieth century saw great technological, philosophical, and artistic changes. The airplane and the automobile, Marie Curie's discovery of radium, Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, the Great Depression, and World Wars altered the way people experienced the world around them. A modern notion of femininity emerged as well in the "New Woman," who was non-conformist in both appearance and attitude.
As the traditional art academy system declined, new styles came to the fore. European and American women played an integral role in the development of the first modern art "isms" -- fauvism, expressionism, cubism, dadaism, and surrealism -- that emerged in the first four decades of the twentieth century. The expressive potential of these styles excited women artists. Many incorporated ambiguous perspectives, intense colors, and flattened planes in their works, while others took the more radical step of creating entirely abstract images. Women felt free to treat the subject of the nude figure (which was previously taboo for them) and develop their own approach to traditional subject matter such as landscape, still life, and portraiture. |