Figures
Fig 1.1 – ‘Self-portrait’, by Dame Laura Knight (1913) 8
Oil on canvas
60 x 50 1/4 in.; 1524 x 1276 mm
Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery
Fig 1.2 – Image of ‘The Dinner Party’ by Judy Chicago (1974-79) 9 Courtesy of The Brooklyn Museum website
Fig 2.1 – ‘Rose’, by Lucian Freud (1977-78) 11
Oil on canvas
91.5x78.5 cm
Image Courtesy of The Lucian Freud Archive
Fig 2.2 – ‘Woman Smiling, by Lucian Freud (1958=59) 13
Oil on canvas
26 x 20in. (66 x 51cm.)
Image Courtesy of The Lucian Freud Archive
Fig 2.3 – ‘The Painter’s Mother Resting III’, by Lucian Freud (1977) 13
Oil on canvas
69.2 x 59.1 cm
Image Courtesy of The Lucian Freud Archive
Fig 2.4 – ‘The Painter’s Mother, Dead’, by Lucian Freud (1989) 14
Graphite on paper
33.3 x 24.4 cm (13 1/8 x 9 5/8 in.)
Image Courtesy of The Lucian Freud Archive
Fig 3.1 – ‘Pregnant Woman’, by Alice Neel (1971) 16
Oil on canvas
40 × 60 in. (101.6 × 152.4 cm)
Image courtesy of The Estate of Alice Neel
Fig 3.2 – ‘Margaret Evans Pregnant’ by Alice Neel (1978) 16
Oil on canvas
57 3/4 × 38 1/2 in. (146.7 × 97.8 cm)
Image courtesy of The Estate of Alice Neel
Fig 3.3 – ‘Propped’ by Jenny Saville (1992) 17
Oil on canvas
213.4 by 182.9 cm. 84 by 72 in.
Image courtesy of The Collection of David Tieger
were finally able to attend life-drawing classes, thus the upsurge in what we began to consider ‘modern art’ arose
One of the paintings in the National Portrait Gallery that caught my eye during my visit in 2024 was Dame Laura Knight’s (1870-1977)
‘Self-Portrait’, 1913. The painting depicts Knight with the model Ella Louise Napier. At the time, Knight was challenging the art world as she, amongst other female students at the Nottingham School of Art, were not allowed to attend life-drawing classes or depict the nude figure in their work. The painting showcases Knight herself standing next to a canvas which the beginning of the final product is on. She is painting the model Napier, however in the painting she is not looking directly at the model, instead gazing further into the distance to her right, perhaps being interrupted and walked in on, or perhaps being on her guard, looking towards the door. It is as if she knows what she is doing is wrong, however continues to do it. This to me showcases strength and passion amongst a young artist, a rebel. If it wasn’t for artists like Knight, who really knows what position the young women artists of the 21st century would be in. We are lucky now in the sense that women can now attend life drawing classes, however there is still the lurking wonder that if the work created is too much or too crude; there is still an unspoken boundary around depicting female genitalia and sexualisation of the female form. With depicting a man, the state of arousal is obvious, when depicting a woman, it is open to the imagination.
In her revolutionary 1971 essay ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’, Linda Nochlin discusses the difference between art created by men versus art created by women, stating:
“There is a different kind of “greatness” for women’s art than for men’s thereby postulating the existence of a distinctive and recognisable feminine style, different both in its form and its expressive qualities and based on the special character of women’s situation and experience.”
She then goes on to discuss the positives and disadvantages of this idea, raising the fact that yes, women’s experience in society is vastly different to men’s and always has been, however the thing that connects women’s art together is not the feminine undertones. If were to look at Gentileschi, for example, without the knowledge that
she was a woman, would we automatically assume the paintings were created by a woman? There are aggressive undertones in her paintings, and aggression is not often considered a feminine trait. Nochlin later goes on to state “The fault – lies not in our stars, our hormones, our menstrual cycles or our empty internal spaces, but in our institutions and education.” Therefore, one of the distinctive answers to her essay’s question is that women aren’t succeeding the same way as men, not due to their gender in its whole sense but due to the education opportunities that were not presented women due to the fact that they were women. Nochlin kick-started not only the discussing of gendered politics but also the new-wave feminist movement. Judy Chicago said that Nochlin’s essay ‘changed her world’
Discussing Chicago (b. 1939), I must mention her artwork ‘The Dinner Party’, 197479. This is a table that stretches across a huge, purposely ‘non-hierarchical’, minimalistic triangle, created through the late 1970’s with the input of over 100 women. Described as ‘a monument to women’s history and accomplishments’, it is a huge triangular table which showcases thirty-nine place settings, each one dedicated to a different influential woman throughout history, whilst also having an additional 999 names inscribed on its porcelain brick base which the table sits upon One of the names was accidentally included as Kresilas, an ancient Greek sculptor, was mistaken to be a woman named Cresilla. Some of the women mentioned include Artemesia Gentileschi, Emily Dickinson, Georgia O’Keefe – each setting to the women is thoughtfully crafted and includes an embroidered table runner with their name across it, a glass or a goblet, a plate and utensils. Therefore, making a space for the women that built our history. It celebrates art such as textiles and China painting which would be considered ‘feminine’, as opposed to fine art which would be considered a ‘masculine’ artform. When discussing the artwork, Chicago said:
“Because we are denied knowledge of our history, we are deprived of standing upon each other's shoulders and building upon each other's hard-earned accomplishments. Instead, we are condemned to repeat what others have done before us and thus we continually reinvent the wheel. The goal of The Dinner Party is to break this cycle.”
Therefore, Chicago breaks the cycle of putting historical and influential women at the back of our minds through bringing them all together for a meal. Although considered
‘Terrifying completeness’: I wonder what that truly means. Is there a terrifying completeness to all of Freud’s work? Is that the reason as to why he gained such popularity? The fact that the depiction is of his daughter makes this more so obvious; it was a risk to depict family in any fashion for Freud, particularly with the audience’s knowledge that Lucian was the grandson of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis and the ‘father of modern psychology’. Although the initial reaction you may feel to this painting with the knowledge that Rose is Freud’s daughter is perhaps awkwardness or disgust, there is much more substance to this painting than sexualisation; it could be viewed as a capture into life. This ‘terrifying completeness’ could also mean that there is something there that we as the audience crave to see in an artist’s work, which is brutality and raw expression. Vanity Fair when discussing this painting of Rose referred to Freud as ‘Lucifer’ Freud, deeming the nude portrait offensive, ‘proof of his depravity and amorality’. In response to the reaction to this painting, Freud stated:
“For me, painting people naked, regardless of whether they are lovers, children, or friends, is never an erotic situation. The sitter and I are involved in making a painting, not love… Besides, there is something about a person being naked before me that invokes consideration – you could even call it chivalry – on my part: in the case of my children, a father’s consideration as well as a painter’s.”
In a conversation with Michael Aupling, Freud stated “I’m not trying to make a copy of a person. I’m trying to relay something of who they are as a physical and emotional presence.” Therefore, the painting of Rose is not as he views her but as she exudes emotionally and physically. It is not a sexualised painting of his daughter but an example of who she was at the time the painting took place. Freud did not paint people for how he viewed them, rather what they bring to the world and to an audience by simply existing. Freud painted the nude as an existence, not a sexualised object. Freud also painted men nude, and as far as we are aware as an audience, Freud was a heterosexual man. Could these paintings – for example his works of Leigh Bowery – be sexualised, if there is not an undertone of attraction?
In another example of Freud’s work, we may look at his depiction of Rose’s mother, Suzy Boyt. Suzy was Freud’s student at Slade and was 17 years his junior. She gave birth to 4 of his children and eventually gave up all artistic ambitions she had initially at the beginning of her life, however the pair were never truly romantically involved and lived separate lives, this being raised by Rose in ‘Naked Portrait’ when discussing her father’s lack of feelings towards her mother, stating “I know now his answer only meant she was available and he had no opportunity to yearn for her in desperation over what he couldn’t get.”
imperfections, so if you had a spot, he would draw it, colour it in. But then if it went away, and another one appeared, he’d put that one on as well.” It wasn’t uncommon for Freud to exaggerate skin texture, but that didn’t make him cruel, it just made him an artist.
Chapter 3: Neel’s Impact:
In response to the previous chapter regarding Freud, we may compare to a wellknown female and feminist artist, Alice Neel (1900-1984). Neel was a painter and a portrait artist, best known for her ability to manifest the emotion from her subjects whilst they were in mid-expression or mid-thought. In a recent exhibition by the MET called ‘Alice Neel: People Come First’ (March – August 2021), Neel was described as a ‘champion of social justice’, as well as speaking out against issues such as racism, fascism, child loss and birth, and imbalance in sex and gender. Neel persevered when the art world deemed painting and portraiture as an ‘obsolete’ artform, when the world went mad for abstract expressionism, and eventually got the credit and acknowledgements she was due in the later stages of her life. She did not give up creating and painting until she died from advanced colon cancer at aged 84. She said that painting was the thing that ‘kept her alive’.
Going back to the first chapter of this dissertation, I questioned what makes a feminist artist; is it who they are, what they create, or both? I believe that Neel was and still is the epitome of feminist art, because of who she was and what she created. Although she didn’t paint purely just women for the entirety of her career, she explored her relationship with those who would be considered less fortunate, and she vocalised for them when they couldn’t through her paintings. Neel was the mother of four children, suffering greatly in her life with the loss of two children, one through illness and the other through kidnapping. With all the loss and the rejection she was receiving from galleries and exhibitions, this resulted in Neel experiencing a nervous breakdown. She didn’t rise to fame until her 60’s as the rejection was due to society not being ready or able to accept a woman who created art that celebrated activism, and whilst watching interviews with her, I can tell that she was a highly intelligent woman who remembered and relished everything about each person she painted. For example, in a documentary published by The Met called ‘Alice Neel: They Are Their Own Gifts’, 1978, she calls her subjects ‘courageous’, and discussed a little boy called Georgie Archie whom she met when walking her boxer dog. She painted many different depictions of Georgie over the years, saying he was “very smart but he was so proud he wouldn’t even let them [the school] know that he couldn’t read and write… they couldn’t concentrate on one little boy. He had more than usual intelligence.” She goes on to say he got mixed up with some gangsters and went to jail, but she continued to keep in contact with him towards the end of her
life. Her paintings of children are interesting because they have the same maturity and presence as the paintings of adults.
The 1970’s saw a rise in Neel’s interpretations of the pregnant woman, with ‘Pregnant Woman’, 1971 being one of the paintings of note. The piece depicts Neel’s daughter-in-law Nancy shortly before she gave birth to twins. This painting, in contrast with the many depictions of Madonna and Child we see in galleries, is not joyful. Nancy looks uncomfortable, not ‘relishing’ in pregnancy the way we are taught to and expected to; her breasts are swollen, her stomach bloated up like a balloon, pressing against her ribs. She lifts her arms, one supporting her head and one draped over the shoulder of the couch, almost in a loose attempt to appear relaxed and sexy. There is a man behind her, presumably her husband, and the rest of the painting is left blank; the two figures speak for themselves. In the 21st century there are plenty of discussions surrounding the complications of pregnancy and motherhood; the health implications, post-natal depression, the destruction of our bodies, but could we now share these experiences if it weren’t for women like Neel paving the way through defying the traditional motherhood we see in galleries? Artist Chantal Joffe spoke of Neel’s pregnant paintings and the depictions of motherhood, stating “After centuries of men and Madonna’s, suddenly here is the view from the woman herself.”
Neel’s paintings show how lonely and how terrifying pregnancy and motherhood can be for some women. This can also be seen in her painting ‘Margaret Evans Pregnant’, 1978. This painting depicts the wife of artist John Evans in a later stage of her pregnancy; a slim woman, it looks as if the pregnancy is swallowing her. Her eyes are bulging out of their sockets, her breasts are covered in blue veins, her nipples enlarged and appear sore to the touch. Her legs are mottled, her feet blue with lack of circulation. Yet we look back at her face and it contradicts the rest of the painting
painting is essentially saying to look into a mirror and to admire one’s beauty is the epitome of vanity. Of course, this painting is famous for a reason. Other than the suffragette attack in 1914, which took place to make a stand for women’s rights, we appreciate the technique used and the name behind the artwork is recognisable. However, that does not take away from the negative approach to women. In comparison to a vastly different artist such as Neel, who painted female experiences and included a mirror in her piece ‘Margaret Evans Pregnant’, there is a different feeling that comes off this painting. One of female empowerment, therefore meaning to make a feminist painting, one must consider the atmosphere and message that the painting carries. Therefore, in conclusion, to be a feminist painter we must produce work that is suitable for female consumption and suits a female audience, whilst also being knowledgeable of the past. We must paint female experiences such as pregnancy, women’s rights, abortion rights, and do this whilst either understanding them or empathising with them. As Saville once said, “I’d always wondered why there had been no female artists in history. I found there had been –but not reported. I realised I had been affected by male ideas, going through a male dominated art college.” Therefore, the importance of educating oneself of past, present and future is important to succeed as a feminist artist.
Reference list:
Anonymous (2018). The Painter’s Mother, Dead. [online] Cleveland Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.100 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2025].
Boyt, R. (2024). Naked Portrait: A Memoir of Lucian Freud. Picador, pp.1, 11,. Button, V. (2015). Lucian Freud. London: Tate Pub, p.59.
Carroll, J. (2019). Seeing Yourself from Unexpected Angles: Truth Telling by Lucian Freud. [online] Jim Carroll’s Blog. Available at: https://www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2019/11/4/seeing-yourself-from-unexpectedangles-truth-telling-by-lucian-freudnbsp [Accessed 5 Dec. 2024].
Chicago, J. (1979). ‘The Dinner Party’. [Sculpture] Available at: https://judychicago.com/gallery/the-dinner-party/dpartwork/#:~:text=The%20Dinner%20Party%20%E2%80%93%20which%20has,from %20all%20over%20the%20globe. [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].
Chicago, J. (n.d.). Judy Chicago Quote. [online] A-Z Quotes. Available at: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/637215 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2025].
Chicago, J. (2017). Womanhouse | Judy Chicago Research Portal. [online] Judychicagoportal.org. Available at: https://judychicagoportal.org/projects/womanhouse [Accessed 3 Jan. 2025].
Crippa, E., Tate Britain (London and Szépmüvészeti Múzeum (Budapest (2018). All too human : Bacon, Freud and a century of painting life. London: Tate Publishing, p.145. ‘Lucian Freud’, by Laura Castagnini.
Dederer, C. (2024). Naked Portrait by Rose Boyt review – under Lucian Freud’s gaze. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/30/naked-portrait-by-rose-boytreview-under-lucian-freuds-gaze [Accessed 28 Dec. 2024].
Evans, E. (2024). Why did a suffragette attack ‘The Rokeby Venus’ with a meat cleaver? [online] Historyextra.com. Available at: https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-rokeby-venus-suffragetteattack/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2025].
Freud, L. (1959). ‘Woman Smiling’. [Oil Painting] Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/lucian-freud/woman-smiling-1959 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2025].
Freud, L. (1977). ‘The Painter’s Mother Resting III’. [Oil painting] Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/lucian-freud/the-painter-s-mother-resting-iii-1977 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].
Freud, L. (1978). ‘Rose’. [Oil Painting] Available at: https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/freud/rose-1978-79-oil-on-canvas/oil-oncanvas/asset/619765 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2025].
Hessel, K. (2022). The Story of Art without Men. Random House, pp.2, 336, 343, 366.
Hessel, K. (2023). Conflict, exhaustion, Joy and pain: How Alice Neel Shattered the Taboos around Motherhood. The Guardian. [online] 6 Mar. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/mar/06/conflict-exhaustion-joy-andpain-how-alice-neel-shattered-the-taboos-around-motherhood [Accessed 6 Jan. 2025].
Jeffries, S. (2002). What’s It like to Model for Lucian Freud? [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/jun/10/artsfeatures.gender [Accessed 11 Dec. 2024].
Johnson-Roehr, S.N. (2023). Feminist Art History: an Introductory Reading List [online] JSTOR Daily. Available at: https://daily.jstor.org/feminist-art-history-anintroductory-reading-list/ [Accessed 3 Jan. 2025].
Knight, L. (1913). ‘Self Portrait’ . [Oil Painting] Available at: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw03686/Laura-Knight-withmodel-Ella-Louise-Naper-Self-Portrait [Accessed 2 Jan. 2025].
London, L. and Solomon, A. (2023). Hot off the griddle: The tumultuous life of Alice Neel. [online] Luxury London. Available at: