Decentrings: non-Western women artists of the 1950s
In the school curriculum
20.03.2020 | Ariane Fleury
Browse by Themes
Inji Efflatoun, Loom, 1955, oil on canvas, 65 x 79 cm, Courtesy Safarkhan Art Gallery
While Algerian, Lebanese, Argentinian and Chinese women artists were often left on the margins of the art historical discourse of the 1950s, it is nonetheless vital that their contributions to the decade be taken into account, in order to understand the full extent of its diversity and richness. Many of these artists took part wholeheartedly in the artistic development of the time through their travels and exchanges with Asia, South America and Europe. Among these was the Japanese artist Fujio Yoshida (1887-1987) who spent several years in the United States. The way she used visual references from both Japanese and Western traditions is a perfect example of these artists’ ability to ease their way into foreign stylistic themes by making them theirs. Saloua Raouda Choucair (1916-2017) also demonstrated this with her approach to abstraction, which brings to mind both American field painting and the Sufi worldview.
These forms of syncretism did not prevent the artists from highlighting their cultural heritage and personal experience. While Pan Yuliang (1899-1977) borrowed from Western realistic figuration, her ink drawings were also reminiscent of Chinese precepts and her fondness for intimist female nudes evocative of her experience with prostitution. The same applies to the references that Baya (1931-1998) used in her works, which combine the influence of Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and of the Berber fabrics of her native Algeria. During a period when artistic movements multiplied and aesthetic debates raged – the opposition between abstraction and figuration, for instance – these artists with contrasting careers brought their singular vision to a pivotal era in the history of 20th-century art.
1939 — Bangladesh | 2015 — France
Novera Ahmed
1922 — 1997 | Pakistan
Zubeida Agha
1916 — 2017 | Lebanon
Saloua Raouda Choucair
1931 — 1998 | Algeria
Baya
1924 — 1989 | Egypt
Inji Efflatoun
1920 — 1988 | Brazil
Lygia Clark
1924 — 2004 | Tunisia
Safia Farhat
1914 — 2012 | Philippines
Anita Magsaysay-Ho
1913 — Argentina | 1982 — France
Alicia Penalba
1895 — China | 1977 — France
Pan Yuliang
1918 — South Korea | 2009 — France
Seund Ja Rhee
1887 — 1987 | Japan
Fujio Yoshida
1901 — Turkey | 1991 — Jordan
Fahrelnissa Zeid
1931 — 1998 | Guatemala
Margarita Azurdia
1915 — Cuba | 2022 — United States of America
Carmen Herrera
1911 — Chile | 1952 — France
Juana Muller
1922 — 2019 | Iran
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
1926 | Cuba
Zilia Sánchez
1940 — 1985 | Korea
Wook-kyung Choi
1923 — United States | 2009 — Lebanon
Helen Khal
1959 | Lebanon
Fadia Haddad
1935 | Ghana
Felicia Abban
1927 — 1977 | Bolivia
María Esther Ballivián
1926 — Jamaica | 2018 — United States
Dorothy Henriques-Wells
1897 — 1978 | Mexico
Lola Cueto
1903 — 1985 | China
GUAN Zilan (Violet Kwan)
1908 — 1985 | Mexico
Aurora Reyes Flores
1921 — 2009 | Argentina
Ana María Moncalvo
1920 — 2011 | Colombia
Lucy Tejada
1929 — Palestina | 2022 — Israel
Gedula Ogen
1925 — 2019 | Japan
Tsuruko Yamazaki
1932 — 2022 | Japan
Asuka Tsuboi
1913 — 1991 | Japan
Yukiko (Yuki) Katsura
1906 — 1958 | China
QIU Ti (Schudy)
1912 — 2000 | Japon
Toshi Maruki
1943 | Brazil
Ana Maria Pacheco
1898 — China | 1986 — Switzerland
Fang Junbi (Fan Tchun-pi)
1878 — 1972 | China
He Xiangning
1901 — Chili | 1972 — Chile
Laura Rodig Pizarro
1910 — 2004 | Martinique, France
