Publications History and Recent Developments

Question: Discuss about the Publications History and Recent Developments. Answer: Introduction Art has, since time immemorial, been the most reflective mediums of communication. It has the ability to describe or imitate the reality, conjure an image of what the reality should be or can be. The combination of the colors, brushstrokes etc might sound mundane separately but together they create something that goes beyond the universal reality McInnes, G. (1939). When it comes to representing women in the works of art, many accomplished artists have not only failed by reaching the required mark, they have often ended up painting a very wrong and disappointing picture. Most of the artwork on women portrays them as sad, fragile and helpless and the representative of common stereotypes of the particular period in which a painting had been made Kelly, J. and Wossen-Taffesse, M. (2012). However, post 1960s, a new era of female artists arrived which used the representation of women in their paintings to convey their opinions on matters of race, gender, war etc. Every artist goes through a financial crisis at least once in his life. Edgar Degas is no different. Although a legit art form, his choice of nudes, casts a shadow of doubt on his intentions of producing that art. An artist who wants to experiment and learn the art of painting nudes will surely not stick to one gender or a particular age group of people. His choice of painting female nudes of specifically young, rather curvaceous women makes it quite clear that he preferred them as subjects of his paintings due to the fact that they would make a much better saleable product than a mans or even a babys nude Morris, J. (1972). His was widely criticized of his portrayal of women in brothels and baths and in various other intimate and awkward positions. However, today his work is considered as one of the best artwork of that period for his difference from the impressionists and his preference of realism in his works. Despite his impeccable style of painting human bodies in their raw form , it cannot be denied that he was one among many who considered a womans nude to be a profitable commodity rather than artwork. Prudence Heward created paintings portraying women, both white and black models. The subject of her Indian Head was an indigenous woman Kelly, J. and Wossen-Taffesse, M. (2012). She used words like head or girl rather than woman because it was a time when use of gendered language was not appreciated. Her interest in using black females as subjects stemmed from a lot of factors such as formal interests i.e. painting a black woman allowed her a wide variety of use of colors; altruistic i.e. emphasizing the issue of race or it might have been the presence of numerous black women as models in need of extra cash Heward, P. (1948). The bad posture, depressed expressions and unattractive bodies of black women in her paintings speak loudly of the issues of gender and race in the Canadian community during that period. Coming from a affluent white family in Montreal, Hewards representation of black women went beyond race and gender towards issue of social class. Art historian Charmaine Nelson asks, How could one seriously interpret Prudence HewardsDark Girl(1935), a lone naked and melancholic black female surrounded by tropicalized foliage, without discussing the evocation of Africa as the dark continent and without mentioning Hewards seeming preoccupation with black women and girls as subjects for other paintings likeHester(1937),Clytie(1938),Girl in the Window(1941), andNegress with Flower(n.d.)? Prudence Hewards insistence on painting women independent of children is quite indicative of the fact that she wanted to put some light on female as a person alone and not as mothers or wives or daughters etc. It also reflects the scenario of the early twentieth century where women were rebelling against the demands of familial relations especially in marriage Heward, P. (1948). Her painting of her niece Ann is a representative of that. Heward is quite known for her painting of her friend Eleanor and Mabel Lockerby as a portrayal of womens independence, where the latter is seen sitting in a caf alone. It depicts the presence of women in modern spaces during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Heward, P. (1948). Dennis Read, in his A Concise History of Canadian Painting, discusses Hewards Farmers Daughter 1945, and remarks upon the subjects vigorous individuality bold, exciting, it is almost shocking in its sugar-acid colors and defiant anonymity. In 1986, Luckyj curatedExpressions of Will: The Art of Prudence Hewardat the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, which was accompanied by an exhibition catalogue, one of the first texts to focus on a sole Canadian woman artist. Conclusion Before the arrival of the first wave of feminism, women, in the art produced by skilled and esteemed artists, are merely present for the sake of being present. There is no deeper thought or meaning in their representation Morris, J. (1972). Their worth in these artworks is nothing more than their worth in real life. When someone creates a piece of art, people expect it to be something more than what their dull minds could ever conceive but these kind of paintings merely make the plight of women in that period worse but making a public mockery out of it. Post 1960s period saw women contributing actively in the field of art. Their art was not merely an exhibition of their skills but also a portrayal of their struggles, their thoughts on the contemporary issues of society and most importantly their individuality, instead of just being an object of desire. The stark difference between being painted by man and being painted by a woman is not only clearly visible but too striking to ignore McInnes, G. (1939). Art was not just a means to an end but had become a platform for voicing their opinions. References BjArhovde, G. (2014). Emily Carr: Border-crossing Canadian artist and writer. Nordlit, [online] (33), p.171. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.7557/13.3178 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Dunn, L. (2012). Revolutionizing the Study of Female Artists. The Eighteenth Century, [online] 53(2), pp.253-256. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ecy.2012.0015 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Eriti, . (2015). Representation of Women in Late Ottoman Paintings. Moment Journal, [online] 2(2), pp.59-79. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.17572/mj2015.2.5979 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Heward, P. (1948). Prudence Heward. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada. Kelly, J. and Wossen-Taffesse, M. (2012). The Black Canadian: An Exposition of Race, Gender, and Citizenship. Journal of Canadian Studies, [online] 46(1), pp.167-192. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.46.1.167 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. McInnes, G. (1939). A short history of canadian art. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada. Morris, J. (1972). The nude in Canadian painting. Toronto: New Press. Singer, L. (1983). Canadian art publications: history and recent developments. Art Libraries Journal, [online] 8(01), pp.4-57. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s030747220000331x [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Sleigh, S. and Graham, M. (1976). Some Canadian Women Artists. Art Journal, [online] 36(2), p.168. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/776173 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Stephenson, J. (2010). Portrait of the Artist as Artist: The Celebration of Autobiography. Canadian Theatre Review, [online] 141, pp.49-53. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.3138/ctr.141.49 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].