21.04.15 "Did I say that?" (Introduction)

"And you know I'd drag myself through fire at your side, And you know the gates of heaven are surely open wide".

I have always loved art as long as I can remember. My mother will tell you, she used to get so mad at me, for hiding paper down the side of my bed so she couldn't find it, or that she was so mad I had got ink all over my bedding, that she confiscated my fountain pen, and I was never allowed one. My point is, that for as long as I can remember, creativity was something that was inside of me, and my goal has always been to pursue a career within the art world, as long as it is creative, that is enough for me. My best friend will tell you how long I pursued and how hard I worked, and pushed myself to get myself to university. University was always in my plan. Art is my passion. It takes me to another place.

Getting a degree is one thing, but a job afterwards? It's competitive. I sometimes wonder if the choices I made were the right ones, but I loved my degree, and if I were to start again, it would still be a creative pursuit, with the same competitive result. It's been longer than I care to admit, since I graduated and for a long while I felt lost. I've decided to change my state if mind, and not put so much pressure on myself. After all, the only person who suffers is myself,

Making my blog more personal to me will make me feel that in some part, art is back in my life everyday. So here I am.. I have decided that for a first post (and to give me some time to discover new art), I will upload the first chapter of a piece of writing I am extremely proud of. My Dissertation.

"Acknowledging The Role Of Women War Artists During the Second World War."

Introduction.

War art is commonly associated with male artists. This study will focus on selected British female war artists; their development, the boundaries of female limitations, and aspects of war time life they depicted. Evelyn Dunbar, Evelyn Gibbs, Mary M Kessell, Flora Lion, Ethel Gabain and Anna Airy will be discussed in detail, while there will be recognition for works by Linda Kitson, Margaret Abbess, Grace Golden, Nancy Carline and Dame Laura Knight. Despite being acknowledged as the best-known female war artist to date, Knight will be mentioned briefly as her work has been much documented in recent years.

The evolution of women as artists has been full of obstacles and opportunities, as women's position and roles in society has evolved throughout the 20^th century. Their work may be considered on equal terms, rather than solely for the gender of their creator. What women were representing in their works was not brutality or battle scenes, but “life at the front line – it is about artists' creative responses to all aspects of war as seen and experienced by ordinary people.” (Palmer 1) The subject of War Art is firstly identified by audiences, as scenes of battle and destruction primarily attributed to male artists. Though such scenes were denied to female artists, their work showed the impact of war on the civilian population; which should have been seen as a positive for women. It is predictable that war is associated with pain and suffering in battle, but the pain and suffering of veterans' families and the effect on the home front was just as important, and was also seen as significant. The home scenes go beyond the obvious representations of war and gave women broader pictorial opportunities; not just limited 'domestic' scenes deemed only acceptable for female perspective. Home front works were thought of as 'casting a fascinating light on the forgotten social, industrial and personal histories born from conflict which, while not as graphic as the front line, are invaluable in fleshing out a fuller picture of the human cost of war.' (Akbar)

The acknowledgement of women's work was one of many obvious differences with that of their male counterparts; despite women being commissioned as early as the First World War, the treatment they received was far from equal. The opportunities available were limited, and depicting scenes 'beyond the domestic, social and industrial subjects on the home front that were deemed suitable for them' (1) was not seen as acceptable for a female artist. Between the First and Second World Wars, 'women artists who do appear are simply mentioned in passing, and, more often than not, their names appear in footnotes without any discussion of their work.' (Deepwell 7) It seemed as if women were considered too vulnerable to handle documenting these scenes, and war was seen as 'men's affair […] the lot of women was to wait and grieve' (Gilbert) Women's work that was commissioned had substantially less publicity and recognition, less financial gain and there were few opportunities.

In 1916, when the British government set up the first official war artists' scheme, only four women were commissioned. They were paid to a scale of fixed rates. However, the deadlines for women were considerably stricter, and unlike men, penalties for late submissions could occur. Representations of women's work soon fell upon the Imperial War Museum's Women's Work Sub-Committee (WWS); which was run by women for women, however 'there was almost no comment in the press on their work' (Palmer 2). During the Second World War, works were commissioned 'from Evelyn Dunbar, Evelyn Gibbs and Dorothy Coke […] the appointment of these three women artists as the first women among the war artists was widely and enthusiastically reported in the press.' (Deepwell 82-83)

Knitting for the troops and nursing them was the limit of support that females were considered acceptable to do. However, works of art from women on the subject of 'munitions' was of interest to the IWM, who seemed to have recognised that women were participating actively in men's roles once they had been called off to war. 'Early 1915 was the turning point for women's employment […] the government wanted to introduce women into munitions production fast, organising workshops so that women could replace absent men'. (Braybon 35) Before women were trusted to carry out tasks solely, they were given small tasks whilst fully skilled tradesmen finished the most important. Despite the work starting out this way, by 1918, there was an increase of half a million women working in the industrial labour roles. The most well-known representation of a woman in a man's role, was Dame Laura Knight's Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-Ring, 1943. (Below) By the age of 21, Ruby had 'accomplished what usually took at least eight years training to learn'. (Grimes 44) This work questions the discrimination against women's level of capability, showing the significant changes in social standards, and presenting a positive representation of a woman's femininity. Women are continuously seen as the weaker sex, even today. Women's achievements are still overlooked with the history of limitations still in mind. The lower standard that women were once held to, will always be there in some way, but women's worth has more than been proven and is documented in history even with the discrimination in today's society.

An example of this is Nick Clark's 2013 article 'Women just don't paint well. It's a fact.' It is an account of German artist Georg Baselitz claiming that women don't compete when it comes to painting. He says 'women lack the basic character to become great painters […] they “simply don't pass the market test, the value test. […] As always, the market is right.” (26) Many influential people within the art world have disagreed with Baselitz's point of view. Art author Sarah Thornton claimed that 'to see the market as a mark of quality is going down a delusional path. I'm shocked Baselitz does. His work doesn't go for so much.' (27) Baselitz is seen as a great artist and has even been described as a 'walking monument of art history, one of the major figures of post-war art, and a point of reference for younger artists.' (26) It is possible that where there is praise, there is an exaggerated ego; although Baselitz may be seen as a great artist, does that give him the right to judge women's abilities? The standard he has been held up to and made to believe he is reaching, has made him judge artists unfairly by their sex, but at his age, there is no time for changing his view. Griselda Pollock believes people have to change others' perception. She says 'Only few men paint brilliantly and it's not their masculinity that makes them brilliant. It's their individuality.' (26) She also states that women are held back by many factors and 'there isn't enough space in the cultural imagination.' (27) Women's lack of opportunities are bound by years of sexual prejudice within history. Critic David Sylvester said 'he always thought women couldn't be painters because that's just the way it's always been.'

Today, twelve of the fifty artists commissioned for specific works are women, making up twenty-five per cent. This seems like such a small percentage but in comparison to before World War One, it is a vast improvement. Women in art education, however make up two thirds of those studying in the UK.  

Dame Laura Knight. Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-Ring, 1943. (86.3 x 101.9 cm)