Female War Artists'. Part 2..
WOMEN'S ACHIEVEMENTS DURING WAR
After discussing these women, it is clear that they have made a great contribution to the history of war art; experiencing and producing works that help us further understand home front life. However, in spite of these accomplishments, the artist Georg Baselitz's article, nearly seventy years after these women have proven themselves worthy, still dismisses them as lacking the skills to become great painters. Articles arguing for and against women's work, has been written by both sexes. Linda Nochlin's well known article 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?' from 1971, explored why the status of 'greatness' in art has been primarily reserved for male artists, and why there is a build up of unrealistic expectations placed on women, that prevents them from ever reaching the standard that men have dominated. 'There are no great women artists because women are incapable of greatness […] demonstrations of the inability of human beings with wombs rather than penises to create anything significant, to relatively open minded wonderment that women, despite so many years of near equality and after all, a lot of men have had their disadvantages too have still not achieved anything of exceptional significance in the visual arts.' (Nochlin 147) Nochlin's article sometimes seems to be written with an air of sarcasm, however she does take into account men's reasoning for their opinions.
For women, 'claiming a place at the art world was [...] part of a wider fight for equality.” (Foster 59) Men are held to such a high standard, that although they may talk about equality, they are 'reluctant to give up this “natural” order of things in which their advantages are so great'. (Nochlin 152) Nochlin also claimed that the discrimination placed on women was due in part, to institutions and education; with women managing to achieve a great deal despite the odds against them. The home front depictions produced by these women as a creative response to the war, used art as a medium of understanding for audiences. Women's perspectives on war have become an important view, with women as 'eyewitnesses, participants, commentators and officially commissioned recorders of war' (Palmer 5) becoming a newly accepted vision.
Grace Golden (1904-1993) won a scholarship to the Chelsea College of Art, and went from there to the Royal College of Art. She began her career in book illustrations, as pupils at the Royal College were encouraged to be professional instead of dedicating themselves to one path. Wood engraving and book illustrations were prominent at this time, and Golden skilfully used this medium. During the war, Golden was given a sketching permit by the WAAC, who then purchased her work An Emergency Food Office, 1941, for fifteen guineas. (fig 22) The work was shown to the IWM after Golden put her name forward in March of 1914, however, her further works were not acquired by the museum. In this work, people; mainly women and children, queue for ration books. The room is a large, now unused, theatre that has been converted into an emergency office. This is apparent from the balcony seating area and the curtained stage. The women seem well-dressed and it is clear that the food rationing has affected even the most wealthy of people. The only sign of this work as being a war piece, is the 'Ration Book' sign in the very centre of the composition. As an illustrator, Golden was thought to have a great attention to detail, and this work seems no different. Every person within the composition is individually identifiable. Golden was regarded as being capable of making a living from her art, during a time when opportunities for women were very limited.
In discussing these women, we can see that their works have become exceptional depictions, and are now as important as front line works. In her article, Nochlin also claims that an aspect of how women's works are judged, is by how they go about their creativeness, which is in part, due to the nature of their gender. 'Women artists are more inward-thinking, more delicate and nuanced in their treatment of their medium […] the problem lies not so much with some feminist's concept of what femininity is, but rather […] with the naïve idea that art is the direct, personal experience of individual emotional experiences'. (149) For female war artists, the home front was their personal experience. It was their domestic territory. Works of art reflecting personal experiences may have been seen by men as weak, and also too sensitive, but women seemed to have carved themselves a niche in the art world that men are excluded from. There are not many areas within the art world that men have no access to, and work that includes traditionally feminine attributes, is an area they are excluding themselves from, by not granting complete equality to women.
Although equality may always be an issue, women have widened the boundaries of inclusion. However, 'inclusion did not mean an end to discrimination'. (Foster 59) In adapting to the lack of opportunities, women became more diplomatic; Laura Knight became the first honorary president of The Society of Women Artists, founded in 1900. The organisation took women's work, and exhibited it. The same work by these women was to become part of the Tate gallery's collection. Modern Art became defined as 'men's business', (Foster 60) and women began to face difficulties of the female form; becoming objectified as the female nude, and the division between being a woman and of femininity. As discussed earlier, Dame Laura Knight's Ruby Loftus, is 'an image of a twenty-one year-old girl succeeding in what had traditionally been a male preserve, was intended as both a challenge to men and an inspiration to women'. (Harries 267) Ruby shows the idealised vision of capability that women wanted people to know that they were. Men could say that women were only standing in their place and were incompetent, but facts were facts; Ruby had 'accomplished what usually took at least eight years training [for men] to learn'. (44)
Restrictions on women's opportunities became part of the limitations based on them, when it came to training access, within education. Years later, 'secondary schools now offered free and extended education to all children, even those from the working class. [This] meant that the gap between young women's abilities and the opportunities they were offered became even more obvious; performing well alongside their male contemporaries at school and university did not guarantee them an equal chance to build a career.” (Foster 61) Art Critic Brian Sewell claims he knows a possibility for why women artists are not considered great, and do not succeed, 'Only men are capable of aesthetic greatness. Women make up 50 per cent or more of classes at art school. Yet they fade away in their late 20s or 30s. Maybe it's something to do with bearing children.' (Johnson) Although this bold statement is both shocking and in some cases, potentially true; all the artists discussed became successful and appreciated for their war depictions, with only one of the ten female artists becoming a mother.
Nancy Carline (1909-2004) took part in the Artists' International Association exhibitions during the Second World War, painting pictures of the city. Carline's father Douglas Higgins was killed during the First World War, but her family was cultured from their father's devotion to art, literature and music, and from his important emphasis on education. Carline studied at the Slade School of Art, and her passion for art frustrated her on her death bed, when she became too frail to visit galleries. The time that she once dedicated to painting, dwindled as she started having children, and once they were grown up, she returned to her art work. The colour and tone in Carline's work was one of precision and great memory. Much of her portfolio was of landscapes, with occasional figures. Her figurative works were in domestic settings, or of biblical and classical subjects. Although Carline's work took a back seat whilst she brought up her family, she did carry on producing works once her children grew up. She is an example of not 'fading away', like Sewell suggests, as she continued with her art; becoming an honorary life-member at the New English Club in 1989. VE Night, 1946 (fig 23) is a piece celebrating the end of conflict, and the return of normality. The figures in the composition do not seem ecstatic and excited, but rather somewhat relieved and overwhelmed at the past few years. Their lives can be rebuilt, and returned to normal, and the niggling feeling and worry over safety of family members and friends can disappear. The scene still appears gloomy and dull in colour, as the war is still only recently over. The lights, bunting, and crowded streets, are the only indication of a place in recovery. This piece is a new aspect of war art which we have not seen from the previous women discussed. This scene is closely associated with war, but in a completely different way. The other works make you feel sympathetic; for the people, their lives, and the landscapes, whilst this work gives you a sense of relief and compassion that it does get better, and futures can be rebuilt. The impact a viewer can get from a work can make it more significant. If a work touches you and makes a difference in your understanding of a situation, whether or not the artist is male or female, will be insignificant to you. “Reflections from some of the artists provide an insight into how war has shaped their lives, and will highlight the variety of ways that conflict can inform artistic practise.” (Mead) Art as a medium can help people's understanding. It helps put thoughts into perspective, through the expression of creative imagery.
