Making Modernism
Royal Academy, till 12 February
Making Modernism is my kind of exhibition. It’s not vast, so I don’t feel anxious about being able to take it in all in one go. It showcases the work of four women – what’s not to like? – two of which I’ve heard of and two who are unfamiliar, so I’ll see some pictures I know and love, and discover new ones. And the genres and media vary widely: landscapes, portraits and interiors; painting, drawing and sculpture.
Though her paintings, drawings and etchings are by far the most sombre, both in palette and in subject matter, Käthe Kollwitz is an artist whose work I’ve loved ever since I first came across her (thanks, Neil McGregor).
Has there ever been an image more powerful than Dead Child? It is a Pieta without the palliative effect of drapery and transcendent expressions. In fact, you can’t even see the face of the mother as she cradles her dead child. But you can hear her silent howl of grief. The force of her love is expressed in the brute strength of her limbs, which can offer no defence against her crushing vulnerability.
By contrast, vibrant colour is at the heart of Gabriele Münter’s work. She was a member of the NVKM, which spawned the influential Blue Rider movement, and had a long relationship with Vasily Kandinsky. Her style evolved from Impressionism to Expressionism, as her signature bold outlines and flat colours emerged. Her paintings in this exhibition range from the cool, detached Portrait of Anna Roslund (used for the poster advertising this exhibition) to a lively interior showing painter Emma Bossi (also featured in this exhibition) debating animatedly with Kandinsky, to a close-cropped image of red apples against a purple wall.
Would we be more likely to have heard of Paula Modersohn-Becker if she had not died of complications from childbirth at the age of 31. I wouldn’t bet on it. Yet she too displays a remarkable range. Landscape with Windblown Trees is such an immediate response to the landscape surrounding the Worpswede artists’ colony that you can feel the chill. Elsewhere she challenges the male gaze with her solid, practical nudes – one of them, in a first for a female painter, a portrait of herself when pregnant, serenely in the face of what is to come.
As a Russian who trained with realist painter Ilya Repin, Marianne Werefkin came from a different tradition but ultimately developed her own highly distinctive style: her portrait The Dancer Alexander Sakharoff emphases his ambiguous sexuality with its bold palette and stylised shapes. Similarly stylised, but completely different in mood, The Twins is a strangely unsettling painting, the Buddha-like babes clearly exercising some malign influenced on their whey-faced carers.
Three other artists have works featured in the exhibition – Emma Bossi, Ottilie Reylander and Jacoba Van Heemskerk – that confirm their personal contribution to the Modernist agenda.
Making Modernism is on until 12 February, and I’m contemplating a return visit. The variety of genres, the robust challenge to images of femininity, and the emotional charge make this exhibition a richly rewarding experience.
Thanks for sharing this Verity. All the names were new to me but I’m inspired to find out more.
I’m going back for a second bite of the cherry with Barbara!