The ladies have come over for dinner. This dinner spans the time divide of some 130 years. This is a dolls’ house so anything is possible. They have come together to celebrate female creativity and excellence.
The architect Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid. She was an Iraqi architect, artist and designer. She was recognized as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She was often referred to as the Queen of the Curve. Born in Baghdad in 1950. She studied mathematics as an undergraduate and then enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1972 in London. For her there were no boundaries between architecture, design and art showing a strong element of Islamic calligraphy.
The New Zealand painter Rita Angus who is considered one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand Art.
I have long been a fan of her use of color and bold shapes and form. She worked primarily in oil and water color and became well-known for her portraits and landscapes. She painted many self-portraits, this is one of them. I used one of her best known self-portraits as the basis for her dolls’ face. Her work spanned a time of momentous change in the visual arts. She was resourceful and intellectually curious and studied the works of international artists. She began exhibiting when the issue of national identity in New Zealand was an obsession. Writers and critics were talking about the need to break free of colonial dependence on Britain.
The third dinner guest is Georgia O’Keefe, an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers. O’Keeffe has been called the “Mother of American Modernism”.
In 1905, O’Keeffe began art training at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. She worked for two years as a commercial illustrator. Then taught in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina between 1911 and 1918. She was influenced by Japanese art, employing the shapes and rhythms of nature to capture her internal feelings. This became the corner stone of American Modernism. Her creative process was based on ritual and solitude. Fiery poppies and calla lilies. She resented the male gaze that dominated the art world. She settled in New Mexico until her death at age 98. She created more than 2000 paintings in the course of her lifetime.
Last but not least is Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954). A Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico.
She explored questions of identity, gender, class, post colonialism and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. Kahlo has been described as a surrealist. She painted her experience of chronic back pain after the result of a debilitating accident. She often contemplated the physical and psychological effects of pain in her work, painting herself in agony.
I have found each one of them to be inspiring in their own right. They are women who have left an indelible mark on the world of art. Women who forged a path for themselves at a time when women were often overlooked. The dolls are about 13cm tall.
Happy- Arting!
Sarah's Art Diary 