JUNE 29 – OCTOBER 7, 2018DES MOINES ART CENTERJOHN BRADY PRINT GALLERY

THIS WOMAN’S WORK

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T hroughout art history, the female body has been a primary subject, presented in painting, sculpture, and photography as a vehicle for idealized beauty, grace, and desire – most often by white, heterosexual male artists. The lives of real women, from the models who posed for such artists to the servants who worked in their homes, the vendors who sold them food, and even the mothers who raised them only rarely appear in art. Even then, the portrayal of their labor is romanticized. Occasionally, though, artists present genuine images of working women and their diverse experiences. The majority of the art in this exhibition dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the limited roles for women workers in that time frame are reflected in the images. French artists Millet, Pissarro (fig. 2), and the American Impressionist Mary Cassatt offer idealized versions of farm life and food gathering, while others such as Diego Rivera (fig.3) and Byron Ben Boyd focus more on the physical hardship of such work. Suzanne Valadon’s image of a grandmother bathing a child is a realistic, touchingly intimate look at child care (fig. 10). Two late 20th-century female artists, Nicole Eisenman and Alison Saar, offer frank depictions of domestic work, suggesting weariness and the way labor can overtake one’s identity (figs. 1 & 4). Several prints in the exhibition feature sex work. Manet’s controversial painting Olympia (a print version of which is in this exhibition), famously challenged the illusion that artist models were goddesses, and instead offered the frank gaze of a prostitute staring out at the viewer (her attendant, a rare image of a working woman of color in Western art, is also presented) (fig.8). Jean Mammen’s watercolor of a prostitute and sailor from Weimar era Germany is an unvarnished yet not unkind view of the profession (fig.6). Jacques Lowe’s 1960s photos show the glamour of exotic dancers onstage, as well as an intimate moment between two dancers relaxing backstage while a third prepares to perform behind them (fig. 7).

Three prints by Winslow Homer, some of the oldest works in the exhibition, touch on the lives of women working outside the home. In 1862 he depicted nurses and nuns caring for Civil War soldiers, and women headed off to factory jobs just a few years later. Around the same time, Gustav Doré’s monumental body of journalistic illustrations depicting life in London shows the harsh lives of street vendors and flower sellers struggling to survive in a crowded, large city. Fifty years later, Bert Elliot’s 1925 drawing of cloche-hatted ladies on the subway shows members of the first wave of independent women living and working in America’s cities. Two famous independent, professional women appear in the exhibition. Dancer Isadora Duncan is rendered by John Sloan in an image taken from a photograph of one of her scandalous modern dance performances. Another controversial figure, Barbie (or Barbara Millicent Roberts, to give her full name) is captured by photographer David Levinthal modelling – the original profession assigned by her makers at Mattel (fig.5). While Barbie is of course not a real woman, her image, and the variety of professions and domestic tasks she was eventually assigned, would influence generations of girls, for better or worse. Finally, four images capture women in the act of creating. Samuel Halpert’s dressmaker kneels on the floor, beginning a new garment for an unseen client. Charles Pushetonqua shows three Meskwaki women collaborating harmoniously on a reed mat (fig.9). Louis Stettner’s 1951 photo features a female cook, possibly making candy. The most recent work in the exhibition is Amy Cutler’s Weavers, a fantastical image in which a group of women appear to weave sunlight into hair. Despite the surreal nature of their action, Cutler’s group seem to be “real” workers, with determined eyes, busy hands, and grey hair practically pulled back. In each of these four works, the women featured have their backs to the viewer, or look down at their work. As millions of working women have done throughout history, they ignore distractions and finish the task at hand.

LAURA BURKHALTER, CURATOR

THIS WOMAN’S WORK

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Anonymous (Indian, 19th century)Rajah with Attendants, 19th CenturyWatercolor on paper8 1/4 × 4 1/2 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Bequest of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1948.17

Byron Ben Boyd (American, 1887 - 1959)Heavy Baskets, n.d.Watercolor on paper8 1/4 × 7 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Carl Weeks, 1954.60

Mary Cassatt (American, active France, 1844 - 1926)Gathering Fruit, c. 1893Drypoint, soft-ground etching and color aquatint on off-white,medium-weight, slightly textured laid paper16 9/16 × 11 9/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased with funds from the Mildred M. Bohen Deaccessioning Fund, 1999.6

Amy Cutler (American, born 1974)Weavers, 2008Lithograph on paper34 1/4 × 24 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Jim and Ellen Hubbell, 2017.16

Gustave Doré (French, 1832 - 1883)Victoria Embankment, Orange Woman, Between Bridges, Lemonade Vendor, Lavender Girl from “London: A Pilgrimage”, June 8, 1872Electrotype from wood engraving and text15 9/16 × 11 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 1999.14.15.a-.e

Gustave Doré (French, 1832 - 1883)Flower Girls, Barnes Bridge, The Oysterman, Barnes Common - Calling the Carriages from “London: A Pilgrimage”, July 6, 1872Electrotype from wood engraving and text15 1/2 × 11 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 1999.14.25.a-.e

Gustave Doré (French, 1832 - 1883)Punch and Judy, from “London: A Pilgrimage”, April 26, 1873Electrotype from wood engraving and text15 1/2 × 11 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 1999.14.73.a-.e

Fig. 4 Nicole Eisenman (American, born 1965)Spring Cleaning, from “Art for Art’s Sake Calendar 2000” (March), 1999Mixed media on paper20 1/4 x 14 3/4 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Zoe and Joel Dictrow, 2005.15.4

Bert Elliot (American, died 1931)Subway, 1925Ink on paper9 1/2 × 7 3/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Bequest of Mary Mattern in memory of Karl Mattern, 1996.35

Leonard Freed (American, 1929 - 2006)Women shredding tuna, Sicily, 1975Vintage gelatin silver printDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Philip A. Bernstein and Luisa Recalcati, 2017.122

Samuel Halpert (American, 1884 - 1930)Dressmaker, n.d.Lithograph on paper12 × 10 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Gift of Mrs. Edith Halpert to the Truby Kelly Kirsch Memorial Collection, 1954.40

Winslow Homer (American, 1836 - 1910)New England Factory Line - “Bell-Time”, July 25, 1868Electrotype from wood engraving, with typographic text on paper9 1/4 x 13 15/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 2003.126

Winslow Homer (American, 1836 - 1910)The Morning Bell, December 13, 1873Electrotype from wood engraving, with typographic text on paper9 1/8 x 13 3/8 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 2003.173

Winslow Homer (American, 1836 - 1910)Our Women and the War, September 6, 1862Electrotype from wood engraving, with typographic text on paper15 1/4 x 21 3/8 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Richard and Kay Ward Collection, 2003.214

Max Klinger (German, 1857 - 1920)Blumenverkaüferin (Flower Seller), 1911Color lithograph on Japanese paper7 3/4 x 4 11/16 inchesJohn C. Huseby Print Collection of the Des Moines Art Center through Gift, 1972.62

Fig. 5 David Levinthal (American, born 1949)Untitled Barbie #27, 1998Polaroid24 × 20 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Daniel Levinthal, Wynnewood, PA, 2001.6

Fig. 7 Jacques Lowe (American, 1930 - 2001)Dancers talking backstage, c. 1960Vintage gelatin silver print13 7/8 × 9 5/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Jeff Perry in honor of Myron and Jacqueline Blank, 2016.43

Jacques Lowe (American, 1930 - 2001)Two dancers on stage, c. 1960Vintage gelatin silver print13 5/8 × 9 3/8 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Jeff Perry in honor of Myron and Jacqueline Blank, 2016.42

Fig. 6 Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890 - 1976)Ostende am Hafen (Ostend Harbor), 1920sWatercolor and pencil on paper17 7/16 x 13 7/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Dr. Joseph H. Seipp, Baltimore, MD, 1974.99

Fig. 8 Édouard Manet (French, 1832 - 1883)Olympia, 1867Etching on paper3 3/8 × 7 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of the Des Moines Art Center Print Club, 1996.5

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875)La Fileuse Auvergnate (Shepherd Girls Spinning), 1868Etching on paper7 13/16 × 5 1/8 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased with funds from the Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc., 1950.95

Fig. 2 Camille Pissarro (French, 1830 - 1903)Faneuses (Hay-Tedders), 1890Etching on paper7 3/4 × 7 1/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased by the Benjamin A. Younker Purchase Fund, 1943.27

Fig. 9 Charles Pushetonequa (American/Meskwaki, 1915 - 1987)Weaving Reed Mat, c. 1950Gouache on paper12 3/4 × 17 5/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; James D. Edmundson Purchase Award, 1951.3

Fig. 3 Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886 - 1957)Market Women, n.d.Wash on paper24 1/2 × 18 3/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Charles Mendelson, in memory of Capt. Norman W. Mandelbaum, 1949.128

Fig. 1 Allison Saar (American, born 1956)Sweeping Beauty, 1997Three color woodcut75 3/8 × 33 inchesDes Moines Art Center’s Louise Noun Collection of Art by Women through Bequest, 2003.346

John Sloan (American, 1871 - 1951)Isadora Duncan, 1915Monotype and etching on paper8 7/8 x 7 7/8 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Gift of Dwight Kirsch to the Truby Kelly Kirsch Memorial Collection, 1954.36

Louis Stettner (American, 1922 - 2016)Paris (back of woman in cook’s clothing), 1951, printed laterSilver gelatin print13 1/2 x 13 1/2 inchesDes Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Jeff Perry in honor of Myron and Jacqueline Blank, 2009.167

Fig. 10 Suzanne Valadon (French, 1865 - 1938)Grandmother and Child, 1908Soft ground etching on paper12 3/16 × 8 13/16 inchesDes Moines Art Center; Gift of Dwight Kirsch to the Truby Kelly Kirsch Memorial Collection, 1954.3

EXHIBITION CHECKLIST

Exhibition support provided by the Des Moines Art Center Print Club. ©Des Moines Art CenterAll rights reserved4700 Grand AvenueDes Moines, Iowa 50312515.277.4405www.desmoinesartcenter.org PDFs of this publication can be found on the Art Center’s website. Design by Annabel Wimer Photography Rich Sanders, Des Moines

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Exhibition ProgramGallery DialogueCurator Laura BurkhalterThursday, July 19 / 7 pm