The dry, wrinkled skin, crow’s feet and rheumy eyes of old women can be seen universally; yet the actual images and their meaning differ widely, and the very absence of these old women in certain settings also reveals both a discomfort with the aged and an ease in their invisibility. This is true in writing about art and often in the art itself. The physical markers of aging, even implications of death or the nearness of death, make many of these images of old women, haunting; in the 16th and 17th centuries, they become emblems of anger and avarice, though portraits of known elderly women are often created with a sense of awe, and in some cases, authority. This book provides a frank examination of old women, from medieval “old wives” to contemporary reimaginations of shamans and witches and empowering self-portraits. Works from medieval Europe to colonial-time Polynesia, present West Africa, Japan, and the Americas, in a multiplicity of media are explored. These studies of varied representations of “old women” offer fresh perspectives and a dialogue about society’s values and preconceptions regarding the “golden years” in different times and cultures. Images of old women may be the very opposite of what one considers the ideal, but this discussion makes these often overlooked images seem fresh and highlights their many positive associations.
The dry, wrinkled skin, crow’s feet and rheumy eyes of old women can be seen universally; yet the actual images and their meaning differ widely, and the very absence of these old women in certain settings also reveals both a discomfort with the aged and an ease in their invisibility. This is true in writing about art and often in the art itself. The physical markers of aging, even implications of death or the nearness of death, make many of these images of old women, haunting; in the 16th and 17th centuries, they become emblems of anger and avarice, though portraits of known elderly women are often created with a sense of awe, and in some cases, authority. This book provides a frank examination of old women, from medieval “old wives” to contemporary reimaginations of shamans and witches and empowering self-portraits. Works from medieval Europe to colonial-time Polynesia, present West Africa, Japan, and the Americas, in a multiplicity of media are explored. These studies of varied representations of “old women” offer fresh perspectives and a dialogue about society’s values and preconceptions regarding the “golden years” in different times and cultures. Images of old women may be the very opposite of what one considers the ideal, but this discussion makes these often overlooked images seem fresh and highlights their many positive associations.
Introduction
Frima Fox Hofrichter (Pratt Institute, USA) and Midori Yoshimoto
(Jersey City University, USA)
1. Alchemy’s Old Wives
M.E. Warlick (University of Colorado at Denver, USA)
2. Anger, Avarice and Aging: Transgressive Old Women
Jane Kromm (State University of New York at Purchase, USA)
3. Silenced, Sidelined, and Even Undressed: Old Women in
Seventeenth-Century Religious Art
Zirka Filipczak (Williams College, USA)
4. Frans Hals’s Portrait of an Older Judith Leyster
Paul Crenshaw (Providence College, USA)
5. Old Maids: Images of Elderly Servants in Early Modern Europe
Diane Wolfthal (Rice University, USA)
6. Paetini and Vaekehu: Change and Aging in the Portraits of Two
Nineteenth-Century Marquesan Matriarchs
Carol Ivory (Oregon State University, USA)
7. Portraits of Power: Depictions of Nineteenth-Century Northwest
Coast Matriarchs
Megan A. Smetzer (University of British Columbia, Canada)
8. Old Women/New Vision: Lucia Moholy’s Photographs of Clara
Zetkin
Vanessa Rocco (University of New Hampshire, USA)
9. Sculptor, Hostess, Witch: Unpacking Louise Nevelson’s Boxes
Johanna Ruth Epstein (Independent Scholar, USA)
10. To Honor or Condemn: Museums and the Women of Sande
Susan Kart (Lehigh University, USA)
11. Women and Aging in Contemporary Japanese Art: The Case of
Yanagi Miwa
Midori Yoshimoto (Jersey City University, USA)
12. Aging and Feminist Art: Semmel’s Visible Bodies
Rachel Middleman (University of California at San Diego, USA)
List of Contributors
Bibliography
Index
In light of the global aging crisis and related concerns, this book counters the stereotypes by casting light on images of old women through 12 varied representations, spanning medieval to contemporary times, from diverse cultures.
Frima Fox Hofrichter is Professor of history of art and
design at the Pratt Institude, USA. She is the author of Judith
Leyster: A Woman Painter in Holland's Golden Age (1989).
Midori Yoshimoto is Associate Professor of Art History and
Gallery Director at New Jersey City University, USA. She is the
author of Into Performance: Japanese Women Artists in New York
(2005) and contributed to Yoko Ono One Woman Show (2015), Gutai:
Splendid Playground (2013), and Yayoi Kusama(2011).
Drawing on innovative new research, the authors fearlessly tackle
controversial issues, find humor in surprising places, and
convincingly argue that aged women can, and should, be viewed as
wise, powerful, creative, and—yes, beautiful.
*Nancy G. Heller, Professor of Art History, University of the Arts,
Philadelphia, USA*
It reveals as much insight into the at times conflicting and
contrasting approaches to art historical method as it provides
material for comparative analysis from a global and largely
decolonized perspective.
*Woman's Art Journal*
A fascinating exploration of a little discussed subject … The book
is a revelation, one that opens up new vistas for both art history
and age studies.
*Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy & Sociology, University of
Kent, UK*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
