Rosemond N. Boateng
WMST 250 Section: 0108
Katie King
February 13, 2008

Museum Escapade

Reading museums can be tricky; a way to accomplish this is by using one’s own surprises to discover different assumptions about feminism, art and women’s art. In order to be fair in considering my assumptions about feminism and art, I must define what feminism and art mean to me. In my opinion, feminism is the belief of equity among men and women in social, private, political, and economic aspects of life. Art is anything that can be viewed and interpreted in more than one perspective. The museums I will visit in order to discover my assumptions are: The National Museum of Women and the Arts, The National Museum of the American Indian, Hirshhorn, and The National Museum of African Art.

In the National Museum of Women and the Arts, the interior decoration of the museum is definitely feminine but it is not overpowering. When compared to the other museums I would say its interior decoration fits its exhibits perfectly. I assumed that the decorations in the national museum of Women and the Arts would be feminine. I also assumed that women always painted themselves to look beautiful. A series of paintings done by Paula Rego pictured women who looked like men dancing or grooming themselves. An example of paintings like this was “Fantasia” 1995. It was a painting of dancing ostriches from Walt Disney. Another example was Snow White swallows the poisoned Apple 1995. More examples of women who looked like men while performing their daily tasks were: Dog Woman 1994, Grooming 1994 and Moth 1994. These series of paintings made me realize that Paula Rego’s motive might have been to represent women from the past. A time when women had to dress like men to be considered for any serious job.

While I continued my tour at the museum, I saw a painting about African women done by Lois Mailou Jones in 1935. My first instinct was: who are these evil beings? Lois Mailou Jones gave them the most unnatural face one could ever imagine. They looked horrible. I thought that feminist were supposed to promote equality between races but that painting was definitely stereotyping in my opinion. I thought the painting suggested that women in Africa were ugly and unnatural looking. Then I thought about it from another angle. I looked at it as if I had never been to Africa. I thought that to someone who had never seen a true African woman would think that the painting was a beautiful work of art. I also considered the fact that maybe, it was the only way the artist thought she could represent an African woman who she had never seen before.

I assumed that women in the 1600 to 1800 were not allowed to do what was then considered to be a man’s job like becoming silversmiths. There was an exhibit at the National Museum of Women and the Arts made up of silverwares made by women. They were impressively crafted. An example was a set made by Hester Bateman called George III circular salver. The detail work was amazing. If I used the exhibits in this museum to define art, I would definitely say that art is anything done creatively and you can look at it with more than one perspective. An example of a multiple perspective art was the Misericordia 1 by Paula Rego. In this water color women in a nursing home were been looked after by middle age caregivers. In the water color the caregivers’ actions look almost brutal; as if they did not like being care givers. On the other hand one might look at the water color and say that the care givers looked tired after a long day of work.

I think feminism and Art has an unstated relationship. The exhibits in The National Museum of Women and Art show that feminism and art can go together. Most of the exhibits fit the description of feminism. Up coming exhibitions include: Italian Women Artists form Renaissance to Baroque, Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember, Artists’ Sketchbooks and a film titled Like Father, Like Daughter Series: Artemisia.

After leaving the National Museum of Women and the Arts, I went to the National Museum of the American Indian. I was surprised to see that both the outside and the inside of the building were tailored to fit the various American Indian exhibits inside the Museum. I assumed that like the other museums the outside of the building would have nothing to do with what was inside. Art meant a lot to the American Indians. A time ball made by women to mark milestones in their lives was one type of art. I considered that art because a stranger might look at the ball and see a ball made up of strings elegantly tied into knots, while the lady who created the time ball would be able to tell what each knot meant. Everything they made turned out to be art. They even found a way to incorporate art into story telling. They used a string tied at the end to make images of certain things as they tell their stories.

I do not think that the National Museum of the American Indian was feminist. I thought that the women in American Indian societies would have subdued roles like other women around the world during the sixties. I was very surprised that in their culture the women’s role was just as important as the men’s role. To help support their families, the women made clothes and pots to wear and sell. Exhibits in their permanent collection included Our Universe, Our People and Our lives. I do not think that the museum was feminist because I thought it was setup to teach the ways of the American Indians and to keep their heritage alive.

Hirshhorn was the most contemporary museum I went to. It did not seek to keep a particular heritage alive like the Museum of the American Indian. I did not think Hirshhorn was for or against feminism. Their exhibitions did not show any distinction based on whether the contents were feminist related. The only relationship I saw in the museum that had anything to do with feminism was a room that was dedicated to women art. An example of an art in this room was Carolee Schneema’s 36 Transformative actions, and Black Wall by Louise Nevelson. I think they were just trying to honor women in an artistic way, or they were trying to show that they promote art by women and women’s art. At Hirshhorn, the definition of art in my mind definitely changed. I realized that art can be anything you want it to be as long as it was created by some one.

The National Museum of African Art was my least favorite museum. It might have been because their permanent collection was closed, or because I expected more from them. Most of their exhibits only had where it came from, and there was no crafter’s name. I think that the exhibitions are meant to teach visitors about Africa. I assumed that there would be more masked faced sculptures in the exhibits. I do not think that the museum was feminist but I noticed that most of the exhibits that did not tell a story were about women. The current collection include: Rifting, mask and sculptures, textiles, style and identity.

In conclusion the only museum that turned out to be feminist was the National Museum of Women and the Arts. During my visit to each museum, I discovered some assumptions I did not know I had about art, feminism and feminism and art. I assumed that women in the 1600 to 1800 did not do what was then called ‘men’s jobs’. I also assumed that the outside a museum building would have nothing to do with what was inside. I learned that most initial assumptions about a place or thing turn out wrong in reality.






My Assumptions

1. I assumed that the decorations in the national museum of Women and the Arts would be very feminine.
2. I also assumed that women always painted themselves beautiful.
3. Another assumption I had was that all of the art in the museum would be related to beauty and cleanness, but I was surprised to see and exhibit of a woman poring blood on her self.
4. I also assumed that women in the 1600 to 1800 were not allowed to do what was then called a man’s job like being silversmiths.
5. I assumed that like the other museums the outside of the building would have nothing to do with what was inside.
6. I assumed that art has to be non-continuous. I saw a live exhibit of a fire motion.
7. Another assumption I had was that there would be more masked faced sculptures in the exhibits.
8. I also assumed that there were no underground museums.