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Video Analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j39sXMOo-lo
*** Same positioning as Michelangelo's Prophet Isaiah in Sistine Chapel

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http://womenartandculture.blogspot.com/2012/05/elizabeth-catlett-three-women-of.html

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https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/491319

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Considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan, Mexico City, Mexico. She grew up in the family's home where was later referred to as the Blue House or Casa Azul. Her father is a German descendant and photographer. He immigrated to Mexico where he met and married her mother Matilde. Her mother is half Amerindian and half Spanish. Frida Kahlo has two older sisters and one younger sister.

Frida Kahlo has poor health in her childhood. She contracted polio at the age of 6 and had to be bedridden for nine months. This disease caused her right leg and foot to grow much thinner than her left one. She limped after she recovered from polio. She has been wearing long skirts to cover that for the rest of her life. Her father encouraged her to do lots of sports to help her recover. She played soccer, went swimming, and even did wrestle, which is very unusual at that time for a girl. She has kept a very close relationship with her father for her whole life.

Frida Kahlo attended the renowned National Preparatory School in Mexico City in the year of 1922. There are only thirty-five female students enrolled in that school and she soon became famous for her outspokenness and bravery. At this school she first met the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera for the first time. Rivera at that time was working on a mural called The Creation on the school campus. Frida often watched it and she told a friend she will marry him someday.

In the same year, Kahlo joined a gang of students who shared similar political and intellectual views. She fell in love with the leader Alejandro Gomez Arias. On a September afternoon when she traveled with Gomez Arias on a bus the tragic accident happened. The bus collided with a streetcar and Frida Kahlo was seriously injured. A steel handrail impaled her through the hip. Her spine and pelvis are fractured and this accident left her in a great deal of pain, both physically and physiologically.

She was injured so badly and had to stay in the Red Cross Hospital in Mexico City for several weeks. After that, she returned home for further recovery. She had to wear full-body cast for three months. To kill the time and alleviate the pain, she started painting and finished her first self-portrait the following year. Frida Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best". Her parents encouraged her to paint and made a special easel made for her so she could paint in bed. They also gave her brushes and boxes of paints.

Frida Kahlo reconnected with Rivera in 1928. She asked him to evaluate her work and he encouraged her. The two soon started the romantic relationship. Despite her mother's objection, Frida and Diego Rivera got married in the next year. During their earlier years as a married couple, Frida had to move a lot based on Diego's work. In 1930, they lived in San Francisco, California. Then they moved to New York City for Rivera's artwork show at Museum of Modern Art. They later moved to Detroit while Diego Rivera worked for Detroit Institute of Arts.

In 1932, Kahlo added more realistic and surrealistic components in her painting style. In the painting titled Henry Ford Hospital(1932), Frida Kahlo lied on a hospital bed naked and was surrounded with a few things floating around, which includes a fetus, a flower, a pelvis, a snail, all connected by veins. This painting was an expression of her feelings about her second miscarriage. It is as personal as her other self-portraits.

In 1933, Kahlo was living in New York City with her husband Diego Rivera. Rivera was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to create a mural named as Man at the Crossroads at Rockefeller Center. Rivera tried to include Vladimir Lenin in the painting, who is a communist leader. Rockefeller stopped his work and that part was painted over. The couple had to move back to Mexico after this incident. They returned and live in San Angel, Mexico.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's marriage is not a usual one. They had been keeping separate homes and studios for all those years. Diego had so many affairs and one of that was with Kahlo's sister Cristina. Frida Kahlo was so sad and she cut off her long hair to show her desperation to the betrayal. She has longed for children but she cannot bear one due to the bus accident. She was heartbroken when she experienced a second miscarriage in 1934. Kahlo and Rivera have been separated a few times but they always went back together. In 1937 they helped Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia. Leon Trotsky is an exiled communist and rival of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Kahlo and Rivera welcomed the couple together and let them stay at her Blue House. Kahlo also had a brief affair with Leon Trotsky when the couple stayed at her house.

In 1938, Frida Kahlo became a friend of Andre Breton, who is one of the primary figures of the Surrealism movement. Frida said she never considered herself as a Surrealist "until André Breton came to Mexico and told me I was one." She also wrote, "Really I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself". "Since my subjects have always been my sensations, my states of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, I have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself, which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself."

In the same year, she had an exhibition at New York City gallery. She sold some of her paintings and got two commissions. One of that is from Clare Boothe Luce to paint her friend Dorothy Hale who committed suicide. She painted The Suicide of Dorothy Hale (1939), which tells the story of Dorothy's tragic leap. The patron Luce was horrified and almost destroyed this painting.

The next year, 1939, Kahlo was invited by Andre Breton and went to Paris. Her works are exhibited there and she is befriended with artists such as Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso. She and Rivera got divorced that year and she painted one of her most famous paintings, The Two Fridas(1939).

But soon Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera remarried in 1940. The second marriage is about the same as the first one. They still keep separate lives and houses. Both of them had infidelities with other people during the marriage. Kahlo received a commission from the Mexican government for five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941, but she was unable to finish the project. She lost her beloved father that year and continued to suffer from chronic health problems. Despite her personal challenges, her work continued to grow in popularity and was included in numerous group shows around this time.

In the year of 1944, Frida Kahlo painted one of her most famous portraits, The Broken Column. In this painting, she depicted herself naked and split down the middle. Her spine is shattered like a column. She wears a surgical brace and there are nails all through her body, which is the indication of the consistent pain she went through. In this painting, Frida expressed her physical challenges through her art. During that time, she had a few surgeries and had to wear special corsets to protect her back spine. She seeks lots of medical treatment for her chronic pain but nothing really worked.

Her health condition has been worsening in 1950. That year she was diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot. She became bedridden for the next nine month and had to stay in hospital and had several surgeries. But with great persistence, Frida Kahlo continued to work and paint. In the year of 1953, she had a solo exhibition in Mexican. Although she had limited mobility at that time, she showed up on the exhibition's opening ceremony. She arrived by ambulance, and welcomed the attendees, celebrated the ceremony in a bed the gallery set up for her. A few months later, she had to accept another surgery. Part of her right leg got amputated to stop the gangrene.

With the poor physical condition, she is also deeply depressed. She even had an inclination for suicide. Frida Kahlo has been out and in hospital during that year. But despite her health issues, she has been active with the political movement. She showed up at the demonstration against US-backed overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala on July 2. This is her last public appearance. About one week after her 47th birthday, Frida Kahlo passed away at her beloved Bule House. She was publicly reported to die of a pulmonary embolism, but there is speculation which was saying she died of a possible suicide.

Frida Kahlo's fame has been growing after her death. Her Blue House was opened as a museum in the year of 1958. In the 1970s the interest in her work and life is renewed due to the feminist movement since she was viewed as an icon of female creativity. In 1983, Hayden Herrera published his book on her, A Biography of Frida Kahlo, which drew more attention from the public to this great artist. In the year of 2002, a movie named Frida was released, staring alma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. This movie was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for Best Makeup and Original Score.

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Considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan, Mexico City, Mexico. She grew up in the family's home where was later referred to as the Blue House or Casa Azul. Her father is a German descendant and photographer.

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Why is Johannes Vermeer so famous?

What is Johannes Vermeer famous for?

How was Johannes Vermeer educated?

Johannes Vermeer, Johannes also rendered Jan, (baptized October 31, 1632, Delft, Netherlands-buried December 16, 1675, Delft), Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world's finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, but most of his later paintings-the ones for which he is most famous-depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. These works are remarkable for their purity of light and form, qualities that convey a serene, timeless sense of dignity. Vermeer also painted cityscapes and allegorical scenes.

Early life

Delft, where Vermeer was born and spent his artistic career, was an active and prosperous place in the mid-17th century, its wealth based on its thriving delftware factories, tapestry-weaving ateliers, and breweries. Within Delft's city walls were picturesque canals and a large market square, which was flanked by the imposing town hall and the soaring steeple of the Nieuwe Kerk ("New Church"). It was also a venerable city with a long and distinguished past. Delft's strong fortifications, city walls, and medieval gates had furnished defense for more than three centuries and, during the Dutch revolt against Spanish control, had provided refuge for William I, prince of Orange, from 1572 until his death in 1584.

Vermeer was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk. His father, Reynier Jansz, was a weaver who produced a fine satin fabric called caffa; he was also active as an art dealer. By 1641 the family was sufficiently prosperous to purchase a large house containing an inn, called the Mechelen, on the market square. Vermeer inherited both the inn and the art-dealing business upon his father's death in October 1652. By this time, however, Vermeer must have decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a painter.

In April 1653 Vermeer married Catherina Bolnes, a young Catholic woman from the so-called Papenhoek, or Papist's Corner, of Delft. This union led him to convert from the Protestant faith, in which he was raised, to Catholicism. Later in that decade, Vermeer and his wife moved into the house of the bride's mother, Maria Thins, who was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert.

Artistic training and early influences

Surprisingly little is known about Vermeer's decision to become a painter. He registered as a master painter in the Delft Guild of Saint Luke on December 29, 1653, but the identity of his master(s), the nature of his training, and the period of his apprenticeship remain a mystery.

Since Vermeer's name is not mentioned in Delft archival records during the late 1640s or early 1650s, it is possible that, as with many aspiring Dutch artists, he traveled to Italy, France, or Flanders. He also may have trained in some other artistic centre in the Netherlands, perhaps Utrecht or Amsterdam. In Utrecht Vermeer would have met artists who were immersed in the boldly expressive traditions of Caravaggio, among them Gerrit van Honthorst. In Amsterdam he would have encountered the impact of Rembrandt van Rijn, whose powerful chiaroscuro effects enhanced the psychological intensity of his paintings.

Stylistic characteristics of both pictorial traditions-the Utrecht school and that of Rembrandt-are found in Vermeer's early large-scale biblical and mythological paintings, such as Diana and Her Nymphs (c. 1653-54; also called Diana and Her Companions) and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (c. 1654-56). The most striking assimilation of the two traditions is apparent in Vermeer's The Procuress (1656). The subject of this scene of mercenary love is derived from a painting by the Utrecht-school artist Dirck van Baburen in the collection of Vermeer's mother-in-law, while the deep reds and yellows and the strong chiaroscuro effects are reminiscent of Rembrandt's style of painting. The dimly lit figure at the left of the composition is probably a self-portrait in which Vermeer assumes the guise of the Prodigal Son, a role that Rembrandt had also played in one of his own "merry company" scenes.

In the early 1650s Vermeer might also have found much inspiration back within his native Delft, where art was undergoing a rapid transformation. The most important artist in Delft at the time was Leonard Bramer, who produced not only small-scale history paintings-that is, morally edifying depictions of biblical or mythological subjects-but also large murals for the court of the prince of Orange. Documents indicate that Bramer, who was Catholic, served as a witness for Vermeer at his marriage. Although it would appear that Bramer was, at the very least, an early advocate for the young artist, nowhere is it stated that he was Vermeer's teacher.

Another important painter who Vermeer must have known in Delft during this period was Carel Fabritius, a former Rembrandt pupil. Fabritius's evocatively pensive images and innovative use of perspective seem to have profoundly influenced Vermeer. This connection was noted by the poet Arnold Bon, who, in writing about Fabritius's tragic death in 1654 in the Delft powder-house explosion, noted that "Vermeer masterfully trod in [Fabritius's] path." However, while Vermeer was aware of Fabritius's work, there is also no evidence to suggest that he studied with Fabritius.

Whatever the circumstances of his early artistic education, by the second half of the 1650s Vermeer began to depict scenes of daily life. These genre paintings are those with which he is most often associated. Gerard Terborch, an artist from Deventer who masterfully rendered texture in his depictions of domestic activities, may well have encouraged Vermeer to pursue scenes of everyday life. Certainly Terborch's influence is apparent in one of Vermeer's earliest genre paintings, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (c. 1659), in which he created a quiet space for the young woman to read her letter. Unlike the characteristically dark interiors of Terborch, however, Vermeer bathed this remarkably private scene in a radiant light that streams in from an open window. The painting also reveals Vermeer's developing interest in illusionism, not only in the inclusion of a yellowish green curtain hanging from a rod stretching across the top of the painting, but also in the subtle reflections of the woman's face in the open window.

Vermeer's interior scenes during this period were also influenced by the work of Pieter de Hooch, a leading genre painter in Delft at the time. De Hooch was a master of using perspective to create a light-filled interior or courtyard scene in which figures are comfortably situated. Although no documents link Vermeer and de Hooch, it is highly probable that the two artists were in close contact during this period, since the subject matter and style of their paintings during those years were quite similar. Vermeer's View of Houses in Delft (c. 1658; also called The Little Street) is one such work: as with de Hooch's courtyard scenes, Vermeer has here portrayed a world of domestic tranquillity, where women and children go about their daily lives within the reassuring setting of their homes.

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Johannes Vermeer | Biography, Art, Paintings, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Woman Holding a Balance, The Milkmaid, & Facts

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Johannes Vermeer, 17th-century Dutch artist, known for his luminous paintings of daily life, allegorical scenes, and cityscapes. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world's finest museums.

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Frida's painting were bold and explored bold themes. Her strong passion for feminism and politics reflect the bold and bright colors she uses in her paintings. Her paintings showed emotion and pain with graphic images. in this painting there is a bloody heart on the ground, most likely representing Frida's broken heart.

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Her self portraits are the most significant parts of her works.

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Kahlo, a dedicated feminist depicted women as a creator or a life-giver

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"Johannes Vermeer is best known for his meticulously rendered images of women in light-filled domestic interiors."

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Vermeer uses realistic situations and style to depict women in the private sphere.

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A woman playing the piano, a domestic task

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Frida Kahlo explored strong feminist-related themes in her depictions or herself and other women, while Vermeer simply depicted women in a domestic setting (in the home). Also, they completely differ in style. Frida uses bold lines, colors and representations. Vermeer's work is very non-fiction, in that it is of light coloring and realistic situations.

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Elizabeth Catlett was an African-American artist who explored themes relating to race and feminism in her range of sculpture, paintings, and prints. View Elizabeth Catlett's 509 artworks on artnet. Find an in-depth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices.

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Quick Facts

"I'll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I want to."

Art Students League of New York, National Academy of Design

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Norman Rockwell illustrated covers for 'The Saturday Evening Post' for 47 years. The public loved his often-humorous depictions of American life.

Who Was Norman Rockwell?

Norman Rockwell received his first commission at age 17. In 1916, he created the first of 321 covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell's Americana images were loved by the public, but not embraced by critics. He created World War II posters and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

Early Years

Born Norman Percevel Rockwell in New York City on February 3, 1894, Rockwell knew at the age of 14 that he wanted to be an artist, and began taking classes at The New School of Art. By the age of 16, Rockwell was so intent on pursuing his passion that he dropped out of high school and enrolled at the National Academy of Design. He later transferred to the Art Students League of New York. Upon graduating, Rockwell found immediate work as an illustrator for Boys' Life magazine.

By 1916, a 22-year-old Rockwell, newly married to his first wife, Irene O'Connor, had painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post - the beginning of a 47-year relationship with the iconic American magazine. In all, Rockwell painted 321 covers for the Post. Some of his most iconic covers included the 1927 celebration of Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic. He also worked for other magazines, including Look, which in 1969 featured a Rockwell cover depicting the imprint of Neil Armstrong's left foot on the surface of the moon after the successful moon landing. In 1920, the Boy Scouts of America featured a Rockwell painting in its calendar. Rockwell continued to paint for the Boy Scouts for the rest of his life.

Commercial Success

The 1930s and '40s proved to be the most fruitful period for Rockwell. In 1930, he married Mary Barstow, a schoolteacher, and they had three sons: Jarvis, Thomas and Peter. The Rockwells relocated to Arlington, Vermont, in 1939, and the new world that greeted Norman offered the perfect material for the artist to draw from. Rockwell's success stemmed to a large degree from his careful appreciation for everyday American scenes, the warmth of small-town life in particular. Often what he depicted was treated with a certain simple charm and sense of humor. Some critics dismissed him for not having real artistic merit, but Rockwell's reasons for painting what he did were grounded in the world that was around him. "Maybe as I grew up and found the world wasn't the perfect place I had thought it to be, I unconsciously decided that if it wasn't an ideal world, it should be, and so painted only the ideal aspects of it," he once said.

Still, Rockwell didn't completely ignore the issues of the day. In 1943, inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he painted the Four Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. The paintings appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post and proved incredibly popular. The paintings also toured the United States and raised in excess of $130 million toward the war effort. In 1953 the Rockwells moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Norman would spend the rest of his life.

Following Mary's death in 1959, Rockwell married a third time, to Molly Punderson, a retired teacher. With Molly's encouragement, Rockwell ended his relationship with the Post and began doing covers for Look. His focus also changed, as he turned more of his attention to the social issues facing the country. Much of the work centered on themes concerning poverty, race and the Vietnam War.

Ruby Bridges Painting

One such socially charged piece, titled, "The Problem We All Live With," appeared on the cover of Look on January 14, 1964. Inspired by 6-year-old Ruby Bridges' integration of New Orleans' William Frantz Public School in 1960, the work shows a small African American girl flanked by faceless U.S. marshals as she walks past a wall bearing the marks of a smashed tomato and a scrawled racial epithet. "The Problem We All Live With" generated hate mail for the artist known for depicting romanticized visions of American life, but it became one of the most important pieces of his career: It was the first painting acquired by the Norman Rockwell Museum in 1975, and later hung in the White House during President Barack Obama's first term.

Final Years and Death

In the final decade of his life, Rockwell created a trust to ensure his artistic legacy would thrive long after his passing. His work became the centerpiece of what is now called the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. In 1977, one year before his death, Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford. In his speech Ford said, "Artist, illustrator and author, Norman Rockwell has portrayed the American scene with unrivaled freshness and clarity. Insight, optimism and good humor are the hallmarks of his artistic style. His vivid and affectionate portraits of our country and ourselves have become a beloved part of the American tradition."

Rockwell died at his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1978.

Fact Check

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"I'll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I want to." Art Students League of New York, National Academy of Design Stockbridge, Massachusetts Norman Rockwell illustrated covers for 'The Saturday Evening Post' for 47 years. The public loved his often-humorous depictions of American life.

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"Elizabeth Catlett was an African-American artist who explored themes relating to race and feminism in her range of sculpture, paintings, and prints... Catlett highlighted the struggle of black people with her art"

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Her use of line, shading and color make this piece more dramatic, which draws attention to the overall theme of the work. The seriousness on the girl's face reminds the viewers of the serious matter of civil rights and black empowerment.

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Her sculptures resemble African art. This is one way Catlett pays homage to her ancestry through her art. In this sculpture, the woman is expressionless. This may represent the silenced voices of those oppressed by a white-dominated society. Also, this sculpture outlines the beauty of the human figure.

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In this piece, the girl is jumping rope. The background is chaotic and has rough texture. This may represent the environment, in which many African American children must grow up in. The girl is too occupied by her childhood activities to notice.

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"Norman Rockwell illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post for 47 years. The public loved his often-humorous depictions of American life."

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His work was the epitome of American Society. It displayed American work, war, family, entertainment, childhood, religion and struggle. He explored the everyday lives of the average American and illustrated them with emotion-filled depictions.

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Although Norman Rockwell did explore some themes regarding the civil rights movement, his work was more centered around the average, white American lifestyle in the early-to-mid 20th century. His work was uplifting and humorous, as his characters often displayed excited or emotion-filled expressions. However, he “white-washed” or glossed over many ever-present issues with these happy-go-lucky paintings. They are considered standard American classics. Elizabeth Catlett primarily focused on the oppressed state of the black man and woman in her art, making it have a more serious and dark tone. Her art focused on the individual, rather than a scene or place. Her works were often criticized for their contriversal themes.

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Rockwell's Four Freedoms: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2017/feb/07/norman-rockwell-four-freedoms-trump-roosevelt

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National Museum of Women in the Arts Article: https://nmwa.org/works/singing-their-songs

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https://news.artnet.com/market/market-snapshot-elizabeth-catlett-107605

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"Homage to my Young Black Sisters" (1968)

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"Homage to my Young Black Sisters" (1968)

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https://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/146603768/black-female-and-an-inspirational-modern-artist

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https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/491319

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https://www.nrm.org/2010/10/norman-rockwells-the-problem-we-all-live-with-continues-to-resonate-as-important-symbol-for-civil-rights/

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"New Kids in the Neighborhood (Moving Day)"

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"New Kids in the Neighborhood (Moving Day)"

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https://www.artic.edu/artworks/184340/civil-rights-congress

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/before-black-lives-matter-black-powers-revolutionary-art/2018/02/05/2c0b81e2-084f-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d1ecd9da1471