Women in Surrealism: Leonor Fine, Frida Khalo and Lee Miller, three figures of the Avant-Garde

Résumé du document

If we consider the History of Art from the very beginning, we observe that women have been generally a lot more of subjects than actors. During a long time, they remained stuck in the role of the muse, or source of inspiration for the artist. Until the advent of the 19th century, Art was like a branch the society, following its rules and women, confined in their household activities, were kept away from real artistic activities, except for distraction. Some said it would corrupt their minds, while some others opined that they were mentally or physically too inferior to reach the superior abilities required to perform Art. This situation began to evolve after the Industrial Revolution in European societies, but painting or sculpture were still a private area for men, and when women works were recognized, these women were mostly forced to lead a marginalized life.

Extraits

[...] An illustration of this is the partnership between Man Ray and Lee Miller, from 1929 to 1932 : photographs were produced together. Lee Miller said about these ones don't even know if I made them but it doesn't matter once we were working, we almost were the same person”[1]. Thus, she is the one who discovered by a mistake “solarisations”, later known to be a Man Ray original process. Her own career, and the production of photographs that represent now for everybody its work, only began when she left the influence of Man Ray. [...]

[...] ( New relation to maternity Marriage and maternity were burning topics among the Surrealists. Believing in monogamist and long-lasting relationships, their ideal is yet the femme- enfant. In women's point of view, a housewife life and responsibility of children didn't fit with their artistic ambitions and the free Surrealists' way of life. In their discourses as much as in their artistic productions, maternity is associated with a negative connotation. Frida Kahlo was particularly sensitive towards the maternity theme and her incapability to have a child inspired plenty of her paintings. [...]

[...] Anyway, we have only seen here how women follow Surrealist movement, taking part through it to the Avant Garde revolution. But the peculiarity of being a woman, and the one of these women especially leads to an Avant Garde magnetism that is much more consequent. The fact that the artistic revolution they carry on is added to a societal one strengthens the impact of their work. Their independence is the key determining their actual influence : Lee Miller acquires fame only when she gets away from the Surrealist group. [...]

[...] Called women”, paintings and objects from Leonor Fini, Frida Kahlo but also Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim, Dorothea Tanning or Kay Sage are exhibited. Symbolically, it is a very significant step towards the recognition of women importance in art, and more generally women liberation. In the meantime, Lee Miller acted for it too. Indeed, accredited by the US Army, she was one of the rare women admitted on the front line of the major war events. Anyway, even in front of these serious scenes, she was able to give an Avant Garde dimension to her photographs, as shown by the presence of suggestive juxtapositions appreciated by Surrealists. [...]

[...] Thus, Frida Kahlo produces a lot of paintings with a dry earth, desperation landscapes or frightening atmospheres. It is aimed to express her sufferings, more particularly concerning its physical weaknesses : Art is an expiatory, replacing vain complains in its actual life. If women are still relatively stuck in a society evolving slowly, they catch up this lack of freedom through their artistic production. They are not responsible for what goes out of their subconscious and are this way allowed to deal with normally inappropriate subjects such as death, very present in Leonor Fini paintings for instance (cf Le Bout du Monde). [...]