"El Cid (Lion Head)," Rosa Bonheur, 1879.

Bonheur (1822-99) was an animaliere, or an artist who specialized in animals. Her portraits of wild and domestic animals, sometimes people's beloved pets, are remarkable for their realism but also lacking the sort of saccharine sentimentality that one might expect.

She would go to fairs and circuses in trousers (requiring a special "transvestite permit" to do so) and paint animals there; she even painted animals used in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show when it played in Paris. She exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair and received the Legion of Honor in her native France, the first woman artist to be honored. A portrait of her, by Edouard Dubufe, has her with her arm around a bull...that she painted in herself.

Bonheur broke gender norms; she was an independent and successful artist, wore men's clothing, lived openly with other women, and enjoyed a freedom and power usually only reserved for men. She was known to view men as stupid and said the only men she had time for were the bulls she painted. Or this lion, who seems to express the wildness and determination that she felt in her own life.

Happy Portrait Monday! (And yes, animal portraits count.)

From the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

#Art #rosabonheur #WomenArtists #Lions #Animaliere #QueerHistory #QueerArtists #LGBTQIA

"Woman with Morning Glories," Katsushika Ōi, c. 1820s.

Katsushika (c. 1800 - c. 1866) was the daughter of the great Hokusai, by his second wife, but also an accomplished artist in her own right.

Not a lot about her life is known for sure, except she was her father's apprentice and assistant, and married another artist...but divorced him three years later. She moved back in with her father and never remarried, the two of them always busy with their art.

This print is intriguing; at first glance the woman seems to be simpering at the bowl of morning glories (on a tray that absurdly resembles a bathroom scale to modern eyes), but a closer look shows what may be a sheet of paper hidden behind the fan. Is she reading a clandestine letter? A poem from a lover? A naughty print? Who knows?

Sadly, not much of her art is known to survive to this day, but it is known that she was highly regarded in her lifetime. It's possible that some of her work is misattributed to others, including her father. But she remains the object of study and admiration.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

#Art #KasushikaOi #JapaneseArt #AsianArt #ukiyo_e #MorningGlory #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #FlowerFriday

"Spanish Landscape with Mountains," Dora Carrington, c. 1924.

It may surprise you, but this seemingly innocuous landscape is considered a work of Surrealism.

Carrington (1893-1932) worked mostly as a designer and illustrator in her life, didn't exhibit, and really didn't become famous for her painting until after her death. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group and was most famous for her unconventional but loving relationship with critic Lytton Strachey.

She loved traveling in Spain and was deeply impressed by the scenery there. Here he have orange hills with cacti, and some tiny travelers that seem a bit out of perspective. But it's the hills in the middle distance that attract attention; they're the color and texture of human skin and are very evocative of breasts. In her work she sometimes is noted as making the personal public, and she is doing so here.

In recent decades she has become recognized as a significant artist and has been the subject of multiple retrospectives, biographies, and the film "Carrington" where she was played by Emma Thompson.

From the Tate Gallery, London.

#Art #WomenArtists #Surrealism #Landscape #DoraCarrington #BloomsburyGroup

I realized recently that when I think of my art projects as "doodles" instead of Projects™️, the perceived stakes go down and mistakes are suddenly tolerable, acceptable even, and I can keep going enough to finish the "doodle"

Now I have a whole *portfolio* of "mistake-riddled doodles"

And also the unhinged audacity to think I can expand that into a mistake-riddled career

Anyway heres todays doodle-in-progress, details in alt 🌾

#womenartists #philippines #filipinoamerican #filipinoartists

Keep warm with your art history post for today: Crazy Quilt, ca. 1887–1900, Louisa Joiner (1844–1911), silk, ribbons, lace, velvet, embroidered, heat transfer; 186.7 x 182.9 cm (73 1/2 x 72 in.), The Cleveland Museum of Art. More info in ALT. #art #arthistory #fiberart #womanartist #womenartists #quilting

“And what is life? A crazy quilt;
Sorrow and joy, and grace and guilt,
With here and there a square of blue
For some old happiness we knew;
And so the hand of time will take
The fragments of our lives and make,
Out of life's remnants, as they fall,
A thing of beauty, after all.
— Douglas Malloch, “The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America.”

By Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Baby John Nursing, ca. 1908, pastel on canvas, 32 x 25 ¾ in. (81.3 x 65.4 cm), photo: Christie’s New York, 19 Nov 2014. More information in ALT. #arthistory #womanartist #womenartists #art

From the lot essay: “Baby John Nursing, which captures the tenderness and mutual bond of a young woman and her infant, is exemplary of the confident yet sensitive manner in which Mary Cassatt executed her mature pastels. While Cassatt's work in the 1870s had reflected her interest in the experience of modern women in Parisian society, in the 1880s her emphasis began to shift from the public to the private domains of women's lives, and thus to the quiet, intimate moments spent within the domestic realm. Depictions of motherhood, largely comprised of simple, daily interactions between mothers and their children, were a natural outcome of Cassatt's movement into the private sphere, as these shared moments played a significant role in women's experience of modern life…

In pastels such as Baby John Nursing, Cassatt sought to capture, celebrate and elevate the intimate, hidden scenes of women's domestic life. Her sophisticated approach to the subject of motherhood was praised and distinguished her from her contemporaries. "She saw herself as a standard-bearer for the new freedom in art that had been won by the Impressionists, and was seen that way by others." (N.M. Mathews, Mary Cassatt, New York, 1994, p. 267) Cassatt's ability to convey the inimitable tenderness often present in a mother's interaction with her children while creating paintings that are simultaneously modern and traditional instills masterworks such as Baby John Nursing with a timeless appeal.”

Every piece carries the memory of where it was born—this one holds Malibu’s salt air and the essence of nudibranchs and sea slugs.

"Malibu Waves"

Sea Dancer Series

White stoneware, glaze

2.5"Hx6"Wx3"D

DM for Purchase

Follow me to see which location I choose to create art in next...

#OceanInspiredArt #sylviealvarezart #ceramicsculpture #clayinnature #MalibuBeachVibes #homedecor #artforsale #artforinteriors #nudibranch #seaslug #womenartists #ArtCollectors