Essay Sample on Feminism in Art

Introduction

Art is one of the techniques that artists use to communicate their message or information to a targeted audience. The drawings sometimes appear simple; however, artists develop them to contain a particular message. For a normal person, an art may look just like a normal picture. However, the combination of the colors, the appearance of the art among other aspects contributes to the passage of information or the message. There exist various themes that artists utilize in communicating their message to the audience. Feminism suffices to be one of the themes. Feminist artists focus on indulging the audience of the viewers of artwork by providing a woman perspective that the viewers can connect with and elicit particular approach to understanding art.This paper involves an analysis of an artwork which I believe complicates or exemplifies the "story" of art using a feminist theme.

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The artwork selected for the review is the painting of Marilyn Monroe which I collected from the Palm Springs Art Museum. The artwork is a diamond dust painting done by Andy Warhol which he developed in 1967 and has since then become one of the most famous artwork. The artist completed the art in 1967 after the death of the actress, Marilyn Monroe. Traditionally, most of the artwork involved depicting male artistry works. However, the emergence of the theme of feminism contributed to various distortions which are crucial in the history of art. Marilyn Monroe was one of the famous actresses; therefore, the development of artwork representing her images would contribute to significant changes in the history of artwork. This is the rationale behind the selection of the artwork for representing the feminist theme.

Art Analysis

Warhol's diamond dust Marilyn Monroe, 1967 painting looks like an extractor extension of the 1962 silkscreen portfolio. The size of the image is 36 x 36", and is a larger as well as a closer crop of Marilyn Monroe's face. The paintings are made in a way that they reflect her effervescent personality. Her lips are iconic and colored in bold red color. Also, the painting by Warhol emphasizes her platinum blonde hair and adds variants of yellow. The actress portrait in this painting is colored in silver and black. The particular technique draws the mind to the effect of watching Marilyn Monroe on the black and white cinema screen. The dark color reflects the actress's tranquilities in life during her career. The colors used in the painting specifically bring to life to the iconic status and celebrity glamor of Marilyn Monroe.

Looking at the portrait, it is possible to notice how back side of her head and behind the ears is made dark while the front side looks bright. This is a depiction of how the hardships and the trials she had to go through before she could become famous and successful as an actress. It is possible to notice her bright sight which is open to the public; however, it will take a keen observation of seeing and understand hardships she has had to go through in the past, and still managed to secure her future. The art calls upon women to understand how one has to go through hardships to secure a bright future. It is not an easy process; hence, one has to be committed and persistent to her goals in a bid to achieve them.

The artist's selection of Marilyn Monroe's picture can be assumed to have been influenced by her popular status. Her popularity meant that women could also make it in life and work just like men. Every artist has a purpose and a message to pass down to the viewers. As such, the selection of the person to paint should have a purpose to serve beside the incorporation of other artistic methods. As such, Marilyn Monroe was an appropriate representation of the women perspective; her achievements and her dark past represent the life of an actual woman in the society. Moreover, the use of her picture as a representation of the feminist art portrays how women can become successful in contemporary society.

Another approach that the artist used is the application of bold colors. This portrays the boldness of women in society unlike the prevalence of gender discrimination in the society. Women are human beings who achieve a lot in their lives. In Marilyn Monroe painting, she is shown as a bold woman who was able to climb the ladder of fame as a lady competing with other men and was still able to achieve much and become famous for her character. Similarly, the art can also serve as an encouragement to other women to understand that it is essential to be bold in life and strive to achieve the best in life. The theme of feminism in art focuses on identifying the means to achieve women empowerment by portraying the woman perspective in the paintings they develop.

Also, the artist uses diamond dust in the portrait. Diamond suffices to be one of the expensive materials; hence, its use in the portrait by the artist showcases the high nature of women and how precious they are. In this case, the artist calls upon the women to understand their worth in the society and rise to the challenge. Through determination and hard work, they can be able to achieve all their desires and become successful in their lives. Feminism as a theme in artwork focuses on women and how to empower them to become successful in society. In art, the selection of any artistic design, color, and the pictorial representation has its meaning. The diamond dust artistic approach in Marilyn Monroe's pictures showcases how precious she was and how she realized her worth to be bold enough to climb the ladder to fame.

Similarly, the color of her hair is gold-yellow which portrays the significance of women in society. Mostly, hair is a significant representation of women and portrays their uniqueness from men. Rather than using the black color to draw Marilyn Monroe's hair, the artist was careful to use gold yellow which also portrays the preciousness of women and how the society should see them. Besides encouraging women to rise in society, the article also advocates on behalf of women in a society that they have the worth to get respect and have the ability to achieve. Gold-yellow portrays how worth the actress were as well as other women in the society. The realization of her worth significantly contributed to making her become famous and achieve a lot in life. Therefore, feminist art calls women into action to take charge of their lives and strive to achieve more in life.

The evaluation of the artwork showcases that Andy Warhol had two intentions while developing Marilyn Monroe's portrait. The first intent was to appreciate an icon who had achieved much in her career. The combination of the various artistic designs focuses on creating an understanding of the kind of life she lived and what she had to go through to achieve her accomplishments in life. The intent was achieved as Marilyn Monroe's painting is one of the best-selling artwork. The artist was able to successfully represent her in the painting by portraying the significant phases of her life including her dark past representing hardships and her bright future representing success and fame in her acting career. The artwork is one of the most celebrated and kept in a museum for public viewership.

The second intent of the Andy Warholin developing Marilyn Monroe's art was to portray the woman or feminist perspective in the painting. The artist used the bold colors to portray the boldness of a woman. The primary theme in the art was feminism. The artist was able to showcase how a woman is precious and of importance in society. The diamond dust and the gold-yellow color in the art portray the preciousness of a woman in society. At the same time, the use of dark color represents how women as human beings have drawbacks limiting their achievements. The artist's goal of representing the feminine perspective was achieved since the portrait is one of the most recognized and even kept in Palm Springs Art Museum to act as an encouragement to women in the society.

Conclusion

Art suffices to be one of the essential means that artist use to convey their message to a target audience. A normal portrait may contain various artistic designs which facilitate the conveyance of a message to the intended audience. Subsequently, various themes may be used in the development of artwork. Feminism suffices to be one of the approaches has been a recent trend whereby artists try to present the woman perspective in the art which is the basis for understanding the issues about women rather than basing arguments on male perspectives. As portrayed by Andy Warhol in developing Marilyn Monroe's portrait, aspects such as focusing on hair, the boldness of the colors. Marilyn Monroe's portrait utilizes a feminist theme to showcase the life of the actress and reflect on the lives of women in society.

The unusual aspect of the art is that uses bold colors to reflect on the boldness of the actress as well as influence women to be bold. Subsequently, the gold-yellow color showcases the uniqueness and preciousness of the actress and also women in the society. Another crucial aspect is that the artist uses a dark side to showcase the tranquilities in that women might have to go through to achieve their goals. In the development of the portrait, it is evident that the author had the intention to appreciate the famous actress, as well as influence women into taking charge of their lives. The intent was achieved as the artwork is one of the most celebrated and expensive artwork. Moreover, the art is kept in Palm Springs Art Museum for public viewership and to raise awareness about women empowerment.

Bibliography

Broude, Norma. The expanding discourse: feminism and art history. Routledge, 2018.

Meskimmon, Marsha. Women are making art: History, subjectivity, aesthetics. Routledge, 2012.

Schor, Mira. Wet: on painting, feminism, and art culture. Duke University Press, 1997