Women of Modern Art

  Yayoi Kusama,  Narcissus Garden.  1966. (Image from Daily Art Magazine ) Artist Background   Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan. Though she was born into a wealthy family, she had a distressing childhood. Her mother and father endured an unhappy, unfit arranged marriage and from a young age, Kusama was instructed by her mother to spy on her fathers affairs with other women. Her mother was emotionally and physically abusive towards her. Needless to say, much of her childhood had left her with trauma and issues with her mental health throughout her life. She began to experience hallucinations around age 10, which sparked the beginning of her experimentation with art. She studied art in Japan and later moved to New York City in the late 1950's because she felt Japanese culture and society limited her artistic expression. She is mostly known as a contemporary artist, however, her work is so influential and extraordinary that I felt the need to write abou...

Louise Bourgeois  (Image from tate.org.uk ) Bourgeois, Louise.  Femme Maison Series. 1946-47, Museum of Modern Art.  (Image from Wikipedia -Fair Use )    Artist Background     Louise Bourgeois was an American-French artist born in Paris, France in 1911. Her parents sold tapestries and from a young age, she often helped in their tapestry workshop. She first began drawing by helping with the tapestries. Bourgeois was very close with her mother however her father had a continuous affair with Bourgeois' tutor, who happened to live in their house. According to her biography on The Art Story , this experience molded some of the themes in Bourgeois' later work, including themes of "family, motherhood, relationships, fidelity, abandonment, the body, and trust." She received extensive education in both Paris and later New York City. She was involved in Surrealist circles but became more greatly associated with the American Abstract Artists Group. Much of her le...

Fini, Leonor.  Little Hermit Sphinx. 1948, Tate Gallery.  (Image from Artstor ) Leonor Fini (Photo by Dora Marr) (Image from leonor-fini.com ) Artist Background      Leonor Fini was born in Bueno Aires, Argentina in 1907. She was known to be a rebellious and artistic child from a young age. As a young girl, she often spent time drawing though she was never professionally taught. As she grew older, she learned more through experiences with other artists than from schooling. Not only did she paint surrealist, fantastical images, she embodied them. She was known to dress extravagantly, often wearing masks and flashy garments. She was also said to have a very flamboyant, friendly spirit. Although she rejected labels, she is widely cited a one of most influential female artists of the Surrealism period.  Artwork Background     Her piece Little Hermit Sphinx  was painted in 1948. The painting shows a setting of a rundown house in which the wallpape...