Two Modern Feminist Artists

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the lives of Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson by focusing on two examples of their artwork, which demonstrates feminism's entanglement with modern art in the United States. The author investigates, from an art history and cultural context, one representative large-scale work from each artist: Bourgeois' 1996-1997 sculpture "Spider" from the National Gallery of Art and Nevelson's most famous sculpture 1958 "Sky Cathedral" in the Smithsonian American Art Museum . The paper discusses how each of these two works challenges traditional notions of the "feminine" in positing new ideas of what it means to be female in the 20th century. The paper includes color photographs.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Louise Bourgeois' Spider
Louise Nevelson's Sky Cathedral
Comparison
The Sculptures in Context
Conclusion

From the Paper:

""Sky Cathedral" can readily be seen to fit in with the tradition of Abstract Expressionist painting in America; indeed, it was executed in the 1950s, when Abstract Expressionism as a movement was in full swing. What is unusual, of course, is the fact that it is not a painting at all, but a sculpture. Still, one sees traces of the influence of Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, and other artists who used a large-scale "all over" form of expression in their works. At the same time, one sees traces of the Cubist influence in this sculpture, as well."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chadwick, Whitney. 2002. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson.
• Showalter, Elaine. 2007. Lumps, Bumps, Bulbs, Bubbles, Bulges, Slits, Turds, Coils, Craters, Wrinkles and Holes. Tate Etc. 11.

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