Rediscovering Art by Women

Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983)

Waterlilies (Original Woodblock)

, 1930

Catalogue essay coming soon…

H23cm

x W13.1cm

the original woodblock

Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983)

Gertrude Hermes attended the Beckenham School of Art (c.1921) and the Brook Green School of Painting and Sculpture (1922), where she met Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902–1981), whom she married in 1926. Although they divorced in 1933, they collaborated on several projects, including wood engravings for The Pilgrim’s Progress, published in 1928. She also collaborated with her friends Naomi Mitchison and Prunella Clough (1919–1999) to explore depictions of feminine desire. The 1930s were a prosperous decade for Hermes, who exhibited for the first time at the Redfern Gallery in 1932. She also showed regularly at the RA from 1934, was elected a member of the London Group in 1935, and in 1939 represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. In the late 1940s to early 1950s, Hermes taught at the Central School of Art. When she became the first woman engraver to be elected a full member of the Royal Academy in 1971, she exclaimed “Shame on them!”. In 1981, she was awarded an OBE.

Artworks by the same artist

Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983)

Waterlilies (Original Woodblock)

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“The archetype of the mother in society is the perfect woman; pure, good, chaste, holy, your use as a woman is to be a mother. We put mothers on pedestals as these untouchable vessels, something to be protected at all costs. It’s a dehumanising reverence. So to take that and to fuck with that, to give that archetype agency and sexuality and humanity and desire and especially the “wrong” kind of desire is to degrade it in lots of peoples eyes. Which is exactly where the fascination with this exploration comes…”

Head to the RAW + blog page now if you haven’t read our interview with @vextape founder of @fourchambers on new feature film ‘Maman pt. II’ with @feralmommy @fopk666 @half.bird

#mommies #mommy #fourchambers #filmmakers #womeninart #womenartists #queerart #rawblog #rediscoveringartbywomen

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THIS WEEK IN RAW…

We look at motherhood in all it’s multi-faceted forms…with @vextape & @maisiecousins

Head over to the RAW + blog page now!

#motherhood #mommy #contemporaryart #photography #film #35mm #rawblog #artblog #contemporaryartblog #rawcollection #rediscoveringartbywomen #modernart #feministart #artbywomen #radicalart #pleasurepolitics

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Secret courtyards, unexpected green spaces and sprawling, public gardens; this is the theme of a beautiful new exhibition - ´FINDING THE MODERN BRITISH GARDEN’ - which opens tonight @gardenmuseum

🌸 Interwar Britain saw a flowering of artists who retreated to planting and painting in their gardens – creating their own private havens.

🌸 Discover works by a multitude of women artists, including #ithellcolquhoun #marionadnams #evelyndunbar #maryadshead and many more!

🗣️ “In the shadow of WW2, Evelyn Dunbar wrote: “There has never been a time in the history of the world when we have more definitely and more deeply needed our gardens. We are living in an odd, spiritless time of confusion;
we have lost our vision and I feel that one of the best ways to get back to a sense of basic spiritual security in life is to work more and more in the earth “. Words that still resonate today 💕

🖼️ Evelyn Dunbar - ‘Invitation to the Garden’ 1938

#gardendesign #womenart #nature

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To celebrate their collaboration with the dazzling 93-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, @louisvuitton has installed a giant statue of her in-front of their store in rue de la Monnaie in Paris as well as creating a fantastic window display (swipe ⬅️)

🎨 Known for her exacting approach, Kusama has worked across the conceptual, feminist, minimalist, surrealist, pop and abstract art movements since her first appearance on the scene in the 1950s.

🔵🔴 The Vuitton collaboration encompasses Kusama’s “infinity dots” and metal dots first introduced in 1966, along with floral and pumpkin 🎃 motifs.

🖌️🎨 One of the most famous women artists of today, Kusama’s use of bright colours and bold patterns transfers brilliantly onto fashion items.

@yayoikusama_ @kusama_archive @yayoikusamamuseum #publicart #statue @samaritaineparis #louisvuitton

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❣️ Swipe 👈🏼 to see my portrait by @susannedutoit2353 ❣️
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♥️ I feel so honoured to be part of the exciting 'Painting Women Writers' series and to have been invited by @eiderdownbooks to contribute an "introductory essay" to the new book celebrating the portraits. ⁠
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♥️ Sitting for my portrait was a really special experience - and it was a revelation to find that I could sit still for more than a minute!!! Susanne put me so at ease, and we found that we had so much to talk about and so many shared interests. ⁠
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♥️ The series of 20 portraits will be displayed @theLondonLibrary Literary Festival in April before touring to @Farleyshg later in the year.⁠
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♥️ Do pre-order the beautiful book from the website of @eiderdownbooks as it not only reproduces all of the portraits but also the preliminary sketches to show Susanne's working process. As well as my introduction, there is a foreword on portraiture by @Jeanette_Winterson and contributions on the experience of being a sitter from the writers including @clover.stroud @dollyalderton @irenosenokojie @boycottrosie @pascalepetitpoet @dredasaymitchell and others. ⁠
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#paintingwomenwriters #susannedutoit #eiderdownbooks #femaleauthors #femaleartists #femaleportraits #jeanettewinterson #rediscoveringartbywomen #limitededition

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NEW ACQUISITION ALERT 🔔

🙀 Jane Graverol (1905 - 1984) - Les Belles Vacances, 1964

🐚 As a child, Graverol loved wandering through the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, and during the 1950s and 60s, she became fascinated by zooplankton – especially radiolaria and rotifers (microscopic aquatic animals) with radiating pseudopodia. Having long celebrated the androgyny and hermaphroditism of fantastical creatures in her paintings, such as ‘The School of Vanity’ (1967), Graverol was particularly inspired by the unicellular and non-motile aspect of these aquatic creatures. Les Belles Vacances depicts a bdelloid rotifer, which reproduce exclusively by parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction where embryos grow and develop without the need for fertilization…

🧜🏻‍♀️ View it on the RAW artworks page now!

#janegraverol #surrealist #masterpiece #newacquisition #rawcollection #surrealistcollection #rawblog #graverol #plankton #surrealism

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Did you read @vextape’s artist spotlight on Cosey Fanni Tutti for the RAW + blog?

🗣️ Her name came from the Italian opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ meaning “That’s What All Women Do” and her position as often the only woman in male-dominated cliques, shows and bands was unquestionably groundbreaking but she rejected identifying with the feminist movement of the 70’s – “It didn’t speak for me or the diverse and complex nature of women. I was a free spirit and didn’t want yet more rules and guilt thrown at me about my actions”

#coseyfannitutti #vexashley #rawblog #rawcollection #modernart #womenartists #feministart #artistspotlight #throbbinggristle #hull #erótica #artblog #knowyourart #blogging #rediscoveringartbywomen

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Rediscovering Art by Women

Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983)

Waterlilies (Original Woodblock)

Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983)

Artworks by the same artist

Waterlilies (Original Woodblock)

Latest Posts

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