“Her vision is so lacking in femininity and so vulgar..."
Daring artist Paula Modersohn-Becker
Welcome to post #2 of Art Blotter Plus!
Thank you for your enthusiasm for post #1 and for all your suggestions!
Fascination / Inspiration…
Many years ago, I came across a book of paintings by Paula Modersohn-Becker and was blown over by her expressively intense, simplified portraits. Although not well-known in the US, she is revered as one of the founders of Modern German Art.
In 1981 while traveling in Europe, I made a pilgrimage to the northern city of Bremen and the village of Worpswede to soak in the art and times of Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876 -1907).
This is the first full-figure nude self-portrait by a woman in Western art. Modersohn-Becker was not pregnant when she painted this, but she did become pregnant shortly after.
In 1898 she moved to the pastoral village of Worpswede where she met and married the painter Otto Modersohn.
She also befriended the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and his wife the sculptor Clara Westoff. Rilke would later memorialize Modersohn-Becker in his master poem, Requiem for a Friend (although he never mentions her by name.)
Modersohn-Becker has been called an expressionist, but her work defies categorization. She was most influenced by the French Post-Impressionists: Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh whose work she saw during her 4 extended stays in Paris.
She broke with her fellow painters in Worpswede who were focused on landscape. She wrote in her journal,
“Painting people is really better than painting landscape.”
She painted peasants and people confined to the poor house in Worpswede
Ambivalent about motherhood, she was living in Paris away from her husband. They reconciled and she became pregnant. Bedrest for 2-4 weeks after delivery was advised at that time. Eighteen days after giving birth, Modersohn-Becker died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 31.
Her last words were, “What a pity…”
Years after her death, in 1937, her paintings were displayed in the Degenerate Art Exhibit organized by the Nazi Party in Munich, Germany with the goal of denigrating modern art. She might have been proud or amused by the description that the party officials wrote about her paintings:
“Her vision is so lacking in femininity and so vulgar...Her work is an insult to German women and to our farming culture...
Where is the sensitivity, the essence of the feminine-maternal spirit?...
A revolting mixture of colours, of idiotic figures signifying farmers, of sick children, degenerates, the dregs of humanity.”
If you’d like to read my more detailed account of Modersohn-Becker here is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Art & Love in Egg Tempera. This is the first time I am publicly sharing any part of the book!
I draw a lot of self-portraits but never had the courage to paint myself nude as Modersohn-Becker did. If I were to try it might look something like the famous nude self-portrait painted by Alice Neel when she was 80 years old!
Here are some of my fairly recent self-portrait drawings:
On my easel...
This painting is 4-feet by 8-feet— too big for my easel— so I have it laying on a table made out of an old door.
The panel was damaged so I scraped off all the loose pieces of gesso:
Then I cleaned and sealed the damaged areas and applied about 20 coats of gesso (chalk+ glue priming).
Here is the repaired panel. There are still blotches and holes so I’m adopting the Japanese concept of kintsugi which means:
“finding beauty in broken things”
These are some practice panels that I made before repairing the panel. They will help guide my next steps as I start painting again:
I chose to paint lilies because of their fragrance. Is it possible to paint a smell?
Thoughts?
Book Update…
I have a title!!
Art & Love in Egg Tempera
created by Lisa Bullwinkel, one of my beta readers. The issue now is, do I need a subtitle? Most of my advisors - you - say no, the title says it all…
But self-publishing book “experts” say that a nonfiction book should have a subtitle. I’m thinking that since it’s evolved into a full-blown memoir, it might benefit from a subtitle1 that hints at memoir such as:
Art & Love in Egg Tempera
My Life Illuminated in Paintings and Stories
Now for some fine tuning. Which of these subtle variants sounds best?
#1 My Life Illuminated in Paintings and Stories
#2 My Life Illuminated in Painting and Stories
#3 My Life Illuminated in Painting and Story
#4 No subtitle!!
#5 Other idea?- please write in comments below the poll
I promise this will be the last time I will ask you for advice on the book title.
Next will be the big reveal of the actual Book Cover Design!
Here is the plus section of Art Blotter Plus:
From my shade garden…
I never liked hydrangeas until I discovered Lacecap hydrangea!
Here is the typical hydrangea that I don’t care for:
AmosArt…
my son's got talent!
150 foot mural completed recently at Cuvier Commons in San Francisco. Neighbors worked with the San Francisco Arts Commission to select Amos Goldbaum to design and paint this mural in a public space.
This is the first time Amos needed to rent a scissor lift to be able to reach all places on the wall.
A Favorite Song from the Great American Songbook...
“Ten Cents a Dance”
My Dad introduced me to this song—it always brings tears to my eyes.
This is Ruth Etting singing the Rogers & Hart song, “Ten Cents a Dance” about a “taxi dancer” in the 1920’s. Etting is known as “America’s Forgotten Singer.”
Until next time…
Carry On Bravely in these impossible times,
Lora
PS - I’d love feedback & suggestions on this Art Blotter Plus #2.
Click the button to see my first post of Art Blotter Plus:
I credit Margot Schaal, writer and Feldenkrais Practitioner extraordinaire (MargotSchaal.com), for coming up with the idea of reversing the title with the subtitle. So instead of My Life Illuminated: Art & Love in Egg Tempera, she advised Art & Love in Egg Tempera: My Life Illuminated. Brilliant! But she just told me she prefers No Subtitle!
Yes! It was the Nazi's who included her work in the "Degenerate Art Show" in 1937!!! They wrote comments on all the work.
I’m so sure it was a dude who wrote this... “Her vision is so lacking in femininity and so vulgar...Her work is an insult to German women and to our farming culture...