Sarah M. Iepson, Community College of Philadelphia
Paper Title: “Amplifying the Quiet Radicalism of Frances Macdonald MacNair”
Keywords:
Please leave comments, feedback, and research suggestions below.
Paper Title: “Amplifying the Quiet Radicalism of Frances Macdonald MacNair”
Keywords:
Please leave comments, feedback, and research suggestions below.
Hi Sarah– I was not aware of Frances MacDonald’s work, just Margaret’s. Thank you for this. Her figures, especially in the Pond, reminded me immediately of Jan Toorop’s symbolist elongated figures with flowing hair, as in the The Three Brides of 1893. He was a Dutch Indonesian painter who married British woman Annie Hall in 1886 and spent time b/ the Hague, England, and Brussels. I wonder if he had contact with MacDonald? He painted in various Impressionist styles too, and it is c. 1893 that his figures take on the qualities she portrays. Just curious about their similarities and connections.–Janice Simon
Thank you for this, Janice! I’m not aware of Jan Toorop’s work, but will definitely check it out now! – Sarah
Hi Sarah: Tell me what you think when you look at his work. Also I would love to know whether he and the MacDonalds were in contact and frequented the same artistic circles and communities.
Exquisite analysis of an artist whom I had never heard of before. The images are very deep, and I think I will insert a copy of “Men Make the Beads of Life but women must string them” into my pre-war lecture notes. It is a fascinating look at gender in a time of flux. Thank you for this.
Thank you so much, Mark! There’s a fabulous article about Frances Macdonald by Janice Helland called “Frances Macdonald: The Self as Fin-de-Siècle Woman” that might be worth looking at! – Sarah
Hi Sarah: Thank you for sharing your presentation with us. MacDonald’s work is beautiful! The natural imagery of several of the works (“The Pond,” especially) make me think that her art would be interesting to read through an ecofeminist lens.
Thank you, Jess! I’m glad that I was able to share it this way, as it’s relatively new research and I’m excited to get feedback! As you’ve suggestion, I think this would be a very interesting way to consider that work. I think her work is wonderfully complex and could be explored in so many ways. And, since she’s not been under much academic scrutiny, there are many openings! Thank you again! – Sarah