“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir…mighty scarce.” — Mark Twain
Long overdue, this begins a series of posts dedicated exclusively to the often underrated and unsung women in the visual arts.
First off, women amaze me. Not only do they carry the burden of procreation, they’re most often the soul of the family unit and caretaker of children during their most vulnerable and formative years. Women can truly be said to be the foundation of society, one built on love. With all due to respect to my father, I know that I’d never become the person I am now without my mother. She tirelessly raised five children, worked full-time alongside my father building the family business (which was six to seven days of the week, usually seven), did almost all the cooking and cleaning and still managed to teach me what it meant to be human. She never spent a day not caring for or worrying about all us kids while helping others outside of the family in goodwill and charity. Almost my entire sense of what it means to be honourable, compassionate and generous comes directly from her. And she did all this with less than a grade three education and having to move the family from country to country across three different continents; I can’t imagine what she’d have accomplished with the privileges that I have received.
In the arts, and almost all fields in human history, women have been discarded, rejected and prevented from individual expression and creativity. Education and opportunity were severely restricted. It wasn’t even until as late as 1984 that the last state in America (Mississippi) would ratify the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote (which was officially passed in 1920). That’s the kind of suffrage women have had to endure, not to mention the psychological and often physical violence that accompanied a patriarchal society. That, of course, meant that we never saw much art, literature, musical, or acting accolades amongst the female sex. Still, there were women in history that refused to be imprisoned by such exclusion. The likes of literary giants like Mary Shelley, Jane Austin and Virginia Wolfe were proof of that as were great scientists like Marie Curie, Jane Goodall and (one of my heroes) Rachel Carson. Influential philosophers like Simone Weil, Ayn Rand and Hannah Arendt also bucked the trend. They were derided for doing so, but they did it regardless. That’s courage. In the art world, women’s roles in theatre were, for centuries, played by men while female designers and painters were rejected almost without exception, their talents squandered in limited supporting roles. But again, some would find a way.
In honour of the recent celebration of International Woman’s Day (which unfortunately has been superseded by our current crisis), here are some women in the visual arts who have shined despite everything, both in the past and now, even with the playing field still far from being level or fair.
Joan Mitchell, Painter
I love the art of Joan Mitchell. Her super-large scale paintings are filled with the brilliance of light and mastery of colour. As part of the second wave of abstract expressionists, she was one of greats of the modern art movement of the 1950’s and 60’s at a time when the big men of abstract art (Pollack, De Kooning, Mark Rothko, etc) dominated the fine art headlines, leaving most, if not all, women artists completely ignored. Her commitment to gestural abstraction was matched only by her same commitment to help young artists, as she generously took in young painters into her home and even after her death, left a designation in her will to continue to support individual artists with the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Faye Dunaway, Actor
A powerful presence on screen, Faye Dunaway could do more with a look or a glance than most actors today could do with a line. The blond-haired actress develops empathy and deep penetration even when she plays to her icy good looks and strong persona. She can be powerful or vulnerable, often times both as she was in the Roman Polanski’s classic Chinatown. She can be fun and wild as she was in her sexually vibrant role in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie & Clyde. In Sidney Lumet’s masterpiece drama Network, she’s brilliantly cunning yet elegant as news producer Diana Christensen With Dunaway, you can’t wait to find out what she’s up to next. Actors who go all in and expose themselves so fully on screen are rare; those like Faye Dunaway make the movies they star in practically pivot around them.
Mary Blair, Concept Artist
One of the most magnificent concept artists of our time, Mary Blair is responsible for the look of many of the brilliant designs and stylings of Walt Disney’s films and theme park creations. From Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Cinderella and Song of the South to the magical rides It’s a Small World and Tomorrowland, Blair’s work illuminates the senses. She was a mastermind of creative ideas and brought modern art into a craft locked into circular shapes and rubber hose characters. Brilliant with shape, colour and composition, her artistry defined excellence in illustration and art direction. There isn’t a concept artist today who’s not influenced by her work.
Sofia Coppola, Screenwriter/Director
Sofia Coppola’s artistry is bold and fresh. The screenwriter/director has a great eye for moments. Like her famous father Francis Ford Coppola, her films have a distinct feel to them and they are uniquely her own. I loved Lost in Translation. Starring the irreplaceable Bill Murray and a young, yet to become famous, Scarlett Johansson, the movie explores beautifully the flowering of friendship, melancholy and nuanced romance. It’s a film the feels lost in time. In her most recent film The Beguiled Coppola showcases how far she’s advanced as a filmmaker, in particular her fine eye in direction and editing. Based on the novel A Painted Devil by Thomas P. Cullinan, Coppola turned the film on its dangerous edges, making the male-female dynamic of the story the center of attention and shockingly into a dynamite thriller. The film is lush, yet sharp, delighting the eyes while tearing at the tension bit by bit. It also made her only the second female director ever to win the Best Director prize at Cannes in 2017.
Jillian Tamaki, Illustrator/Graphic Novelist
Jillian Tamaki is a magnificent young illustrator working today in a field currently dominated by photography and digital wizardry. Yet her work continues to shine and shine far above them. Her artistry is whimsical, graceful and elegant. As creator/illustrator of Super Mutant Magic Academy, Skim and They Say Blue and illustrator of numerous magazines and books, she’s won the Eisner, the Caldecott Honour, Society of Illustrator’s Gold Medal and has received the Governor General’s Award — Canada’s highest honour for a civilian — twice. And her touching graphic novel This One Summer, co-written with her cousin Mariko Tamaki, is one of those special creations; a book of tenderness and truth, beautifully illustrated. It’s masterpiece that skips along and touches the heart at its edges and then penetrates with time. Looking at her drawings always charms and lifts one’s spirit.
This concludes the first in our series of Women in Art. More will be coming. In the meantime, please check out all the work of these great artists for you’ll be well rewarded.