Over the next few months we will be closely examining the lives and works of various women throughout art history. Today's discussion will conclude our two-part look into Elaine de Kooning. Her bold artistic spirit was vital to the early New York art scene and de Kooning's daringly sexual 'Faceless Men' series provided thematic inspiration for the decidedly masculine Abstract Expressionist movement. Abstract Expressionism ushered into its golden era with the dawn of the 1950s, and Elaine's evocative, gestural portraits only further solidified her influence within the movement. Her portraits were characteristic of the Abstract Expressionist's emotive and gestural style. Furthermore, she continued to write for Art News and act as both inspiration and friendly rival to her husband Willem. Despite the love and admiration she shared for her husband, Elaine found the name 'de Kooning' distasteful. In addition, she quickly noticed that when the name was mentioned, people thought of Willem before (and often instead of) her. During this time she began to sign her works with her trademark 'E de K,' allowing Elaine to maintain her identity without altogether forgoing the connection to Willem. [i] Her work bared the "mark of fierce scrutiny and fresh insight"[ii] that came to characterize the rest of her career. This intense scrutiny lead to the success of her ‘Faceless Men’ as Elaine was able to capture "what determined the character, the body language, [and] the very being of the person."[iii] Even in the most abstract of her portraits, Michel Sonnebend #1, the sitter’s character and sexual energy were successfully captured. Painted in 1951, Michel Sonnebend #1, is the most abstract and gestural of Elaine's Faceless Men. Sonnebend's face and form are merely hinted at as they are loosely outlined through application of color and line. Forced to the front of the picture plane, the figure almost dissolves into the flat background as another series of "wildly and randomly applied brushstrokes."[iv] Bold shades of blues, yellows, greens, reds and whites are juxtaposed and applied throughout the canvas in a thick impasto. Once again, Elaine omits the sitter's facial features, but this time the figure's form is barely present when compared to the earlier portrait of Al Lazar. Yet, Sonnebend is still a figure with mass. This is quite possibly Elaine's greatest challenge to the history of portraiture. She manages to capture the psyche of her subject not through their facial psychology or clothing, but through color and line. Elaine's rhythmic and kinetic application of bold colors is as much a statement of Sonnebend's personality as they are of her artistic style. In addition, she continues to emphasize her sitter's sexual energy through focusing the viewer's gaze upon Sonnebend's crotch, the lightest spot (white and pale blue) on the canvas. Through use of color and these gestural means, Elaine directly confronts "the 'male privilege' of sitting in an open-legged position,"[v] by defining it as the essence of masculinity. Ultimately, her portrait became a challenge to the intensely masculine world of Abstract Expressionism. Through the evolution of her faceless portraits, Elaine continued to play around with capturing the identity of her sitters while ignoring their unique physical features. Here in lies the success of her series of sitting, faceless men, “showing the tension between recognition and misrecognition of those portrayed: The more she attempted to represent her male sitters, the more ‘empty’ their faces became.”[vi] Elaine thrived when painting in the presence of an audience; doing so also kept her sitters lively throughout the painting process, [vii] allowing their personalities to transcend onto the canvas. She always “feared the consistency of a recognizable style,” [viii] which lead to the widely varying styles of her men. Experimenting with the rules of portraiture was love for Elaine, and she continued to do so as the series progressed. In a style altogether different than her earlier portraits of Al Lazar and Michel Sonnebend, Elaine painted her most sexually charged and identifiable male figure to date in Fairfield Porter #1. Showcasing the diversity and evolution of Elaine's portraiture is Fairfield Porter #1, painted in 1954. By far the most confrontational and erotic of her faceless men, Porter is pushed to the foreground in the signature open-leg stance. The portrait is the least abstract of her series as both figure and setting are easily identifiable and readily defined. Nonetheless, Elaine maintains her painterly application of paint throughout the canvas in dynamic, angular brushstrokes. While not as monochromatic or muted as Al Lazar #2, the color palette of Fairfield Porter #1 lacks the striking juxtapositions of color found within Michel Sonnebend #1, with its naturalistic cool tones of blues and greens and warm golden background. Color again is used to direct the viewer's attention to Porter's crotch; his tie acting as a bright red arrow. Further focusing the eye on the groin, the figure's hands are framed on either side of his inner thighs. Fairfield Porter exudes sexuality, even his empty eye sockets seem to pierce the viewer's gaze with a palpable sensual tension. Elaine’s close relationship and identification with her male sitters allowed for her to successfully render her subjects.[ix] Porter was both friend and painter, a figure whom Elaine felt comfortable subjugating as a merely sexualized object. The portrait reads as an "invitation to visually consume his sexualized body." [x] Upon completion of Fairfield Porter #1, Elaine successfully re-evaluated the historical traditions of portraiture and reversed the standard artist and model dynamic.[xi] As her career began to soar, Elaine’s marriage started to disintegrate. Willem and Elaine’s love was passionate, but explosive and destructive. Both had numerous extramarital affairs: Elaine with gallery owner Charles Egan, Harold Rosenberg and previous subject, Al Lazar; Willem with his many female models. [xii] Willem also began drinking heavily; he continued to drink until Elaine rescued him from the debilitating alcoholism many years later. [xiii] Following the completion of her Faceless Men series in 1957, Elaine accepted a teaching position at the University of New Mexico and officially separated from Willem. [xiv] Thus, began a new phase of her life and artistic career. Elaine de Kooning was no longer simply viewed as ‘the artist’s wife.’ After separating from Willem and moving to New Mexico, Elaine began her love affair with teaching (Figure 1). She viewed it as an extension of 'shop talk,' [xv] a chance to openly discuss artistic method and practice the latest techniques. During this time she travelled throughout the Southwest and Mexico, inspiring her second artistic series (Figure 2), Bullfighting (1957-1963). [xvi] She returned to New York in 1962 when she received a portrait commission for President John F. Kennedy. [xvii] (Figure 3) During her extensive career Elaine was only commissioned twice, the other for soccer phenom, Pele. [xviii] After spending the next year painting over a hundred different images of the President, Elaine went through psychological shock after Kennedy's assassination in 1963. It was over a year before she could pick up a paint brush again.[xix] Once she did, Elaine embarked on numerous other paintings including the Basketball & Baseball series, Bacchus series and her final endeavor, the Lascaux Cave series which she painted up until the year before her death. [xx] All of her works were heavily influenced by her travels throughout the world and her travels were also a direct result of her teaching career. She continued to teach throughout the world and the U.S., including U.C. Davis, the Pratt Institute and Yale. [xxi] Despite their amicable separation in 1957, Elaine and Willem moved back in together in 1977, having never officially separated. [xxii] They both owed their lives and their success to the other. Despite the poison they poured into each other's lives over their fifty years together, Elaine and Willem always maintained a mutual love and respect for one another. Sadly, Willem developed severe dementia by the 1980s as Elaine was diagnosed with lung cancer. Upon finishing her final exhibition on the Lascaux caves series, Elaine passed away on February 1, 1989. The art world mourned the loss of a revolutionary female figure; Willem was never told of her death. As a female painter and an artist's wife within the intensely masculine Abstract Expressionist movement, Elaine de Kooning has been relegated as a "parenthetical figure"[xxiii] next to her husband Willem. Often mentioned first as a critic and teacher, many forget the irreplaceable role she played as an artist within the development of the New York Art School of the 1940s and 1950s. Elaine cannot be studied within the context of traditional female portraiture for she was not a traditional painter. She challenged the notion of 'feminine' painting by creating some of the most masculine and overtly sexual imagery within one of the most masculine and sexually charged art historical movements to date. Her art also served as the inspiration to Willem's artistic genius. Thus, Elaine de Kooning was not just a woman among men, but an artist among her peers. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 i Jane K. Bledsoe, introduction to E de K: Elaine de Kooning, ed. Jane K. Bledsoe et al. (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 15.
ii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 25. iii Marjorie Luyckx, preface to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 13. iv Ibid., 14. v Celia S. Stahr, "Elaine de Kooning, Portraiture and the Politics of Sexuality," Genders 38 (2003), accessed April 29, 2012, http://www.genders.org/g38/g38_stahr.html. vi Isabelle Graw, "Abstract Expressionism in America," trans. Sara Ogger, Art Forum (2001), accessed May 1, 2012, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_1_40/ai_78637320/. vii Lawrence Campbell, “The Portraits,” in E de K: Elaine de Kooning, Ed. by Jane K. Bledsoe, et al., (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 34. viii Ibid., 35. ix Ibid. x Celia S. Stahr, "Elaine de Kooning, Portraiture and the Politics of Sexuality," Genders 38 (2003), accessed April 29, 2012, http://www.genders.org/g38/g38_stahr.html. xi Ibid. xii Justin Wolf, “Elaine de Kooning,” The Art Study Foundation, last modified 2012, accessed April 30, 2012, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-kooning-elaine.html. xiii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 28. xiv Ibid. xv Ibid. xvi Ibid. 30. xvii Lawrence Campbell, “The Portraits,” in E de K: Elaine de Kooning, Ed. by Jane K. Bledsoe, et al., (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 34. xviii Ibid. xix Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 30. xx Justin Wolf, “Elaine de Kooning,” The Art Study Foundation, last modified 2012, accessed April 30, 2012, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-kooning-elaine.htm. xxi Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 29. xxii Justin Wolf, “Elaine de Kooning,” The Art Study Foundation, last modified 2012, accessed April 30, 2012, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-kooning-elaine.htm. xxiii Ann Gibson, “Lee Krasner and Women’s Innovations in American Abstract Painting,” Art Journal 28 no.2 (2007): 11, accessed April 17, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20358126.
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Over the next few months we will be closely examining the lives and works of various women throughout art history. After concluding our exploration of Hildegard von Bingen, we now start a two-part look into Elaine de Kooning. Her bold artistic spirit was vital to the early New York art scene and de Kooning's daringly sexual 'Faceless Men' series provided thematic inspiration for the decidedly masculine Abstract Expressionist movement. Walking around the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art at the age of five, Elaine de Kooning, then Elaine Fried, already knew her place in the art world.[i] Her place would be anything but conventional. She saw her future residing among the greatest male artists of her time, working alongside them as a peer, not as another female lost in the shadows of male artistic greatness. As both an authoritative figure within the American based Abstract Expressionist movement and wife of the movement’s leading painter, Willem de Kooning, Elaine was a woman of influence. Her work challenged traditional notions of portraiture, sexuality and masculinity while simultaneously influencing her even more famous husband. Of her numerous painting series spanning over five decades, none was more significant than her first, the ‘Faceless Men.’ Elaine de Kooning's series of faceless men not only inspired Willem's famous Women series with their kinetic, expressive abstraction, but challenged traditional artistic views of masculinity in her confrontational approach to male sexuality. Born Elaine Fried to a Brooklyn family on March 12, 1918,[ii] the future artist was the first of four children. Early on, her mother Marie instilled a love for the arts on Elaine and the rest of her siblings.[iii] Upon her first visit to the Met in New York, Elaine knew she wanted to be a painter. Despite their often-contentious relationship, she remained forever indebted to her mother for immersing her into the artistic realms of theatre, ballet, and painting. This influence came to an abrupt halt, however, when Marie was reported for child neglect and committed to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.[iv] Elaine’s artistic aspirations were put on hold as she was forced to play surrogate mother to her three siblings while struggling to finish high school. Nonetheless, upon graduation in 1936, Elaine took off for New York.[v] Her first stop was Hunter College; she withdrew several weeks later complaining she was never near a paintbrush.[vi] After dropping out, Elaine moved to Manhattan and enrolled in two schools popular with young emerging artists, the Leonardo da Vinci Art School and the American Artists School.[vii] It was during her studies at the Leonardo da Vinci School that Elaine was introduced to and began her relationship with the single most influential person in her life and artistic career. He was a promising and talented artist who was the “most gifted painter in the school.”[viii] His name was Willem de Kooning. Upon meeting, the chemistry between then twenty year old Elaine and thirty-four year Willem was tangible. “When I met Bill de Kooning, I just knew that I had met the most important person I would ever know. I was mesmerized. Even then I knew he was a genius, a great painter—the most important painter at work in America. And I knew that I would marry him.”[ix] Both Elaine and Willem knew that the other would hold an irreplaceable role in their life and artistic career. Willem first served as Elaine’s teacher and instructor, even inviting her to paint at his studio. (Figure1) He was a demanding instructor, expecting nothing less than perfection. Nonetheless, his harsh criticisms became the foundation for which Elaine’s confidence in portrait painting would emerge.[x] She, too, began educating Willem in artistic expression. Thus, began a relationship of mutual influence as “eager student matched eager teacher; and as in all such cases, the teacher learned as much as the student.”[xi] Their artistic passion translated into an intense emotional romance. Elaine and Willem pursued their romance and in spite of strong family resistance, the two married in 1943, seven years after first meeting.[xii] Despite their marriage and her new place as the wife of Willem de Kooning, Elaine was not one to put on an apron and cook;[xiii] she never let her domestic role take precedence within her life.[xiv] Artist, not wife, remained Elaine’s primary role. Yet, these ideals soon came into direct conflict with the burgeoning New York art scene, but Elaine took delight in the challenge. Elaine relished in the artistic genius of her new husband.[xv] They gained status in Manhattan’s artistic sub-culture, Willem as the rising European genius of American abstraction and Elaine as his gregarious promoter. During that time she continued to paint, but Elaine came onto the scene in an artistic era dominated by American male ‘machismo.’ The end of World War II saw the rise of New York as the art capital of the western world and the development of the American Abstract Expressionist movement. The movement was spiritual, yet aggressive. Artists painted the intangible, yet the process was inherently physical. Critics and collectors felt the embodiment of the Abstract Expressionist lay in the masculine, emotionally damaged male artists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and her husband, Willem. In addition, post-WWII’s return to traditional roles saw hesitancy among collectors to “take a chance on a woman painter, who might decide to turn the studio into a nursery.”[xvi] The 1940s and 50s were a time when self-sufficiency in women was both threatening and unnatural to men. Therefore, collectors sought Willem, not Elaine. Yet, when asked “How does it feel to be an artist yourself and to have to work in the shadow of your husband?” Elaine simply answered, “I don’t paint in his shadow. I work in his light.”[xvii] Simply put, Elaine did not see her marriage to Willem as a hindrance to the advancement of her career. She utilized his connections within the New York art scene to become a primary figure within the Abstract Expressionist movement, alongside friends and peers: Pollock, Krasner, Rothko, Newman and Motherwell. Elaine de Kooning solidified her place within Abstract Expressionism throughout the latter half of the 1940s. During this time she became a force within the industry making it “as a person, not as a woman…because it was too hard to be a woman.”[xviii] After being approached in 1948 by the chief editor of Art News, Elaine began writing as an art critic for the leading arts magazine of the day.[xix] The move was paramount in the American art scene as Elaine was the first artist to also become a critic.[xx] She began writing for two dollars a review, viewing criticism as a way to fully understand and clarify the visual works within her mind.[xxi] Immediately, Elaine became a highly respected critic in her unique approach to art criticism. As an artist herself, Elaine strayed from ever being too critical, focusing on the positive acts of the painting or artist; she knew she was superior only to the people who thought they were superior to her.[xxii] Later that year Elaine accompanied Willem to North Carolina as he accepted a summer teaching opportunity at the avant-garde Black Mountain College.[xxiii] Elaine painted frenetically throughout that summer. She also attended highly influential courses by the college's creator, Josef Albers, courses that left an indelible mark on all of her future works.[xxiv] In 1949 she co-founded the Eighth Street Club; modeled after the pre-war European cafés, it was a place for new and established artists to gather, drink and socialize.[xxv] Frank O’Hara and other members labeled her as the ‘White Goddess,’ a woman whom all adored.[xxvi] Although several artists had claimed "We don't need dames,"[xxvii] within Abstract Expressionism, Elaine had firmly solidified her own place among the New York Art School by the late 1940s. Her comfort and position amid the other leading artists of the day created the body of subjects that formed her future 'Faceless Men' series; first among them was Al Lazar. Beginning with Lazar as her first subject, Elaine de Kooning turned the tables on traditional portraiture and began a series that held profound influence on her husband Willem.
Lazar's sexual energy. Colors are warm monochromatic ochers and browns with traces of green. In Al Lazar, Elaine created an intensely masculine and sexually charged painting of a man who eventually became her lover. Recalling the numerous nudes and objectified female forms from her early trips to New York's museums, Elaine rejected the centuries-old privileged ‘male gaze.’ She explained, "Women painted women: Vigee-Lebrun, Mary Cassatt and so forth. And I thought, men always painted the opposite sex, and I wanted to paint men as sex objects."[xxxi] Elaine succeeded in her first attempt. She begins Lazar's objectification with the omission of all facial features. "Without the facial expression as a focal point, the viewer is confronted by Lazar's sexuality due to the open body language and the gesture of the paint handling."[xxxii] His crotch is emphasized by a glowing red hue surrounded by thick black triangular brushstrokes. Yet, Lazar's distinct personality emerges through the rendering of Elaine's angular and kinetic brushstrokes. Elaine masterfully "asserts the power of the female gaze"[xxxiii] on an objectified male sitter while still maintaining the unique identity of her subject. Al Lazar #2 also held a profound influence over Willem. The artist who previously criticized portraiture and was then known and praised for his abstract canvases began his famous Woman series the following year. He, too, chose to depict the opposite sex in an objectified manner through means of angular and thick gestural brushstrokes (Figure 2). With engorged breasts and generic features, Willem's Women also read as objectified members of the opposite sex. Yet, he fails, where Elaine succeeded, to capture the distinct identity of the women. Instead they read as totemistic fertility figures. Nonetheless, his most famous series is indebted to his wife. "Elaine's slashing series of male portraits…are more persuasive preludes to his [Willem's] Women than are his own less painterly and more linear series."[xxxiv] Without Elaine, Willem may never have succeeded in pursuing his most famous paintings to date. Figure 1 Figure 2 i Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 23.
ii Justin Wolf, “Elaine de Kooning,” The Art Study Foundation, last modified 2012, accessed April 30, 2012, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-kooning-elaine.htm. iii Ibid. iv Ibid. v Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 23. vi Jane K. Bledsoe, introduction to E de K: Elaine de Kooning, ed. Jane K. Bledsoe et al. (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 13. vii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 23. viii Ibid. ix Lee Hall, Elaine and Bill: Portrait of a Marriage, (New York: Harper Collins, 1993), 29. x Ibid. 30. xi Ibid. 31 xii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994),24 xiii Ibid.28. xiv Jane K. Bledsoe, introduction to E de K: Elaine de Kooning, ed. Jane K. Bledsoe et al. (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 18. xv Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994),27. xvii Ann Gibson, “Lee Krasner and Women’s Innovations in American Abstract Painting,” Art Journal 28 no.2 (2007): 12, accessed April 17, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20358126. xvii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 28. xviii Jane K. Bledsoe, introduction to E de K: Elaine de Kooning, ed. Jane K. Bledsoe et al. (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 19. xix Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 25. xx Ibid. xxi Marjorie Luyckx, preface to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 11. xxii Rose Slivka, introduction essay to Elaine de Kooning: The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism, by Elaine de Kooning, (New York: George Braziller, 1994), 25. xxiiI Ibid. 24. xxiv Ibid. xxv Jane K. Bledsoe, introduction to E de K: Elaine de Kooning, ed. Jane K. Bledsoe et al. (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 13. xxvi Ibid. 13-14 xxvii Ellen G. Landau, “Aspects of the Fifties,” Art Journal 40 no. 2 (1980): 388, accessed April 17, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/776606. xxviii Lawrence Campbell, “The Portraits,” in E de K: Elaine de Kooning, Ed. by Jane K. Bledsoe, et al., (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 1992), 34. xxix Celia S. Stahr, "Elaine de Kooning, Portraiture and the Politics of Sexuality," Genders 38 (2003), accessed April 29, 2012, http://www.genders.org/g38/g38_stahr.html. xxx Some sources have cited that it was painted in 1954, but most cited 1949, the year that was favored in my research. xxxi Celia S. Stahr, "Elaine de Kooning, Portraiture and the Politics of Sexuality," Genders 38 (2003), accessed April 29, 2012, http://www.genders.org/g38/g38_stahr.html. xxxvii Ibid. xxxviii Ibid. xxxiv Ann Gibson, “Lee Krasner and Women’s Innovations in American Abstract Painting,” Art Journal 28 no.2 (2007): 13, accessed April 17, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20358126. Over the next couple months we will be closely examining the lives and works of various women throughout history. Today's post will conclude our discussion on one of the first: Hildegard von Bingen. Having looked at her early life and religious works, we will complete our examination of her contributions to the church and the full manifestation of her theology as seen through her various works. Following the completion of Scivias and the death of her beloved secretary, Richardis, Hildegard began the most prolific and ambitious period in her life. In 1154, King Frederick I Barbarossa, the Holy Roman emperor of Germany, invited Hildegard to meet him at Ingelheim. Following the successful meeting, he granted unlimited royal protection to the cloister at Rupertsburg.[i] Even during the great Schism of 1159,[ii] when Hildegard chastised the emperor for electing an anti-pope, the two maintained a mutually beneficial relationship.[iii] Several years later, in 1165, Hildegard established a daughter monastery at Eibingen [iv] (Figure1). Following yet another debilitating illness and near death, Hildegard received a revelation. God had asked her to travel and preach, to spread his word throughout the continent. Such an undertaking by a woman was unprecedented. In 1158, Hildegard began the first of four long preaching journeys that took her as far south as Switzerland and as far east as Paris.[v] She traveled by horseback, foot and ship[vi] speaking to the entirety of the Christian community: clergy, laity, monks, nuns and ecclesiastical officials.[vii] Plagued throughout this time by bodily weakness and further illness, Hildegard's preaching journeys were spread out over the course of thirteen years.[viii] Despite traveling across the continent, Hildegard continued to evolve her feminine theology and expand her artistic abilities. Hildegard's gifts knew no bounds. "God's plentitude expressed itself in her seemingly endless variety of projects and writings"[ix] as she pursued illustration, music, poetry, medicine and other secular writings. She wrote two biographies of saints, both the patron saints of her cloisters: St. Rupert and St. Disibode.[x] In addition to her three theological writings (Scivias, De Operatione Dei and Liber Vitae Meritorum), Hildegard published six secular writings on medicine, nature and healing. Included among these books was Liber Simplicis Medicinae, which offers pharmaceutical advice on the healing properties of plants and elements from nature. The other was entitled Liber Composital Medicinae, a book that discusses symptoms, causes and cures of numerous physical ailments.[xi] Aside from her place as a historical visionary and author, over seventy-six songs were written by this Renaissance woman. Hildegard is the only composer in the history of Western music who was also a respected Theologian and has more monophonic chants attributed to her name than any other composer in the medieval time period.[xii] Although her music was primarily written for the offices and masses of her convent,[xiii] her music is still widely recognized and played today in the twenty-first century. Hildegard's "unrhymed, unmetrical songs, wholly unpredictable…follow the rhythms of thought alone. Their content belongs to the twelfth-century, but their form anticipates the twentieth."[xiv] Her most ambitious musical undertaking was a morality play, Ordo Virtutum (Play of Virtues), which has no medieval parallel [xv] as the first and only morality play set to music.[xvi] Hildegard concluded this prolific artistic career with her last theological and artistic undertaking, a book of visions and images called De Operatione Dei. De Operatione Dei (Book of Divine Works), was completed in 1173 and is regarded as Hildegard’s finest creation.[xvii] The book is also known as Liber Divinorum Operum. Her visions and accompanying illustrations within the text demonstrate "the consistency of Hildegard's thought in creating a female divinity."[xviii] Caritas is one Hildegard's most inspired and progressive theophanic images. Standing in the center of the illustration is a commanding female representation of divine love, Caritas (Figure 2). She stands holding the divine Lamb of God as a "male godhead erupts"[xix] from the top of her being (Figure 3). Lying underneath the feet of Caritas, crushed and vanquished is the personification of evil. To the bottom right of the image is an attached illustration of Hildegard herself, eyes lifted to heaven and seated with Volmar transcribing the revelation as it appears before her (Figure 4). Initially, the image appears as a rather traditional depiction of the Holy Trinity: God the Father with Christ the slain Lamb. Yet, the anthropomorphic rendering of the Holy Spirit as a female of divine love[xx] is a theology unique to Hildegard. Furthermore, the female figure is the most prominent in the manuscript. God the father exists not of His own accord, but sprouts from the head of the female Holy Spirit. "The generation of God the Father from the Holy Spirit's head explicitly implies that male’s dignity derives from female intellect."[xxi] In Caritas, Hildegard created a theophany dependent upon a feminine ideology. This theological view directly challenged the centuries-old perception of a male centered faith and creation story. If God arose from the wisdom of a female Holy Spirit, then woman, not just man, was created in the true image of God. Neither superior, but both equal before the eyes of God. With the completion of her final book and the preaching tours coming to an end, Hildegard remained at her cloister until her final days. Upon the publication of De Operatione Dei, in 1173, Hildegard's beloved secretary Volmar passed away. A new monk, Gottfried, was Volmar's replacement until his death in 1176.[xxii] During his short time as Hildegard's secretary, Gottfried composed Vita, the first biography of Hildegard of Bingen along with another monk, Theodoric.[xxiii] Hildegard's final secretary, a highly educated monk named Wibert, edited her works more than she desired, thus creating a high level of friction up until her death on September 17, 1179[xxiv]. Despite the subsequent Gregorian reforms which limited the active roles of women within the church,[xxv] Hildegard was quickly venerated as a saint. The canonization process began in 1233, set forth by Pope Gregory IX. Sadly, her beatification was never concluded. There have been three attempts to canonize Hildegard of Bingen as a saint, but due to the lack of evidence in recording her miracles, it is unlikely she will ever be declared an official saint.[xxvi] Nonetheless, her works have not been overlooked by the Church, or its leaders. During his reign, Pope John Paul II called Hildegard an "outstanding saint …[who was] a light to her people and her time [who] shines out more brightly today."[xxvii] Hildegard provided a light for God and the arts that will never be diminished. Hildegard of Bingen was not just one of the greatest women of her time, but one of the greatest theologians and artists of the Middle Ages. "Her movement beyond just the textual into the text and image makes it hard to find peers with whom to compare her."[xxviii] Meanwhile, her musical compositions were centuries ahead of their time and her morality play has yet to find an equal nearly a thousand years later. In addition, Hildegard was one of the first women to openly challenge the patriarchal domination of the Church and infuse it with a feminine theology all her own. Hildegard must not be forgotten or overlooked, nor can she only be discussed in the context of female artists; a trap many of today’s art historians and scholars have fallen into. Rather, she must be compared with the greatest men of her time. When this comparison is made in greater depth, the world will finally see that Hildegard of Bingen has no comparison, even among men. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 [i] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 107.
[ii] Following the death of Pope Adrian IV, the Papal election of 1159 resulted in the election of Pope Alexander III. Several Cardinals, however, refused to recognize him and elected Ottaviano de Monticelli, who took the name Victor IV. The Church sought out King Frederick I Barbarossa’s support, then Holy Roman emperor of Germany. He did not side with the Church majority, but rather supported Victor IV. [iii] Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 13. [iv] McGuire, "Monastic Artists and Educators of the Middle Ages," 4. [v] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, 8. [vi] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 25. [vii] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, 8. [viii] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 25. [ix] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 26. [x] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, 6. [xi] Ibid. [xii] Fassler, "Music for the Love Feast: Hildegard of Bingen and the Song of Songs," 355. [xiii] Wilson and Margolis, Women in the Middle Ages, 701. [xiv] Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 25. [xv] Wilson and Margolis, Women in the Middle Ages, 701. [xvi] Fassler, "Music for the Love Feast: Hildegard of Bingen and the Song of Songs," 356. [xvii] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 17. [xviii] Ibid. [xix] Ibid. [xx] Ibid. [xxi] Ibid. [xxii] Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 14. [xxiii] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 26. [xxiv] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, 8. [xxv] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 19. [xxvi] Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 15. [xxvii] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, 8. [xxviii] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 30. Over the next several months we will be closely examining the lives and works of various women throughout history. Today's post will continue our discussion on one of the first: Hildegard von Bingen. Having looked at her early life in the church, we will now take a closer look at the evolution of her theology as manifested in Scivias. "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy" -Acts 2:17-18 Completed over ten years, 1141-1151, Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias was an opus containing over thirty-five visions with accompanying images "set among a frenzied prophetic sense of peril…[for] the church."[i] Scivias, was shortened from three Latin words, scito bias domini, meaning "know the ways of the Lord."[ii] Hildegard’s spiritual revelations in Scivias all had three primary components: 1.) The ability to see the hidden things within our world or the world of God 2.) The actual experience of 'seeing' and 3.) The content of the vision itself.[iii] Thus, when Scivias was written it focused on both a detailed explanation of the dream itself, in addition to Hildegard's actual experience of seeing the hidden truths revealed. The publication signified that women were just as receptive to divine revelation as were men.[iv] Hildegard was called a female prophet, likened to the Old Testament prophets Deborah, Judith and even Jeremiah.[v] Yet, Hildegard only criticized the present, believing it would bring about a greater future for the Church, its leaders, servants and community; she did not believe she was prophesying. "She taught that now a woman would prophesy for the scandal of men and in her two most severe images of the demonic, patriarchy is itself pictured in the league of the devil."[vi] Although those may be Hildegard's most scathing images found within Scivias, her most profound illuminated manuscripts illustrate that men and women are both partner's in God's work,[vii] while highlighting the irreplaceable role of women within the Church. For the twelfth-century, Self-Portrait in Scivias is a unique blend of art and personal self-expression. The manuscript shows a building with Hildegard to the left under descending tongues of fire licking the surface of her face. She holds a tablet with a stylus in her hand for writing or drawing. Volmar is witness to the revelation, as he stands to her right. Little is known regarding how involved Hildegard was in the actual manufacture of the miniature illustrations found within Scivias. Nonetheless, most scholars believe that while receiving her visions, Hildegard drew rough sketches onto clay or wax tablets.[viii] These images then served as the inspiration for the completed images of Scivias, in which Hildegard directly supervised the execution.[ix] Therefore, this image depicts Hildegard in the act of receiving and illustrating her vision. Referencing the flames of the Holy Spirit from the Pentecost in the Book of Acts, the image marks the beginning of Hildegard’s missionary journey. Her beginnings mirror the apostles of the early Christian Church. "She was awakened by the parted tongues of fire that makes sense of babble and allows deep communication to happen among peoples."[x] Even after Papal approval of Hildegard's visions, she was deemed as insane. When he spoke in foreign tongues during the feat of Pentecost, Peter, the 'founder' of the Christian Church, was also viewed as unstable or disillusioned. Not only is Hildegard depicting herself as a recipient of God's divine revelation in Self-Portrait, but she is aligning herself with one of the two most powerful men of the early Christian Church, Saint Peter. Hildegard is the new apostle. In her biography, Vita, written by one of her later secretaries, Gottfried and the monk Theodoric, she is said to have received the "sting of divine punishment and become sick"[xi] due to her hesitance in writing down her visions from an early age. Self-Portrait portrays a woman who is now fully awakened and receptive to the ways and words of God. Hildegard compared wisdom with being awake and foolishness with being asleep. She will remain silent or asleep no more. As the flames kiss her face, Hildegard's eyes open, waking up to the Holy Spirit, aware of the message that is being presented to her and ready to present it to the Church and its peoples. Self-Portrait was one of the first images to be completed for Scivias. Taking nearly ten years to complete, Scivias is a fascinating examination on the evolution of Hildegard of Bingen's theology. During the following years of completion, however, Hildegard and the women of St. Disibode underwent several major upheavals. Shortly after the death of Jutta, pilgrims came to St. Disibode to visit her body, seeking miracles and intercession. The visitors were so frequent and noisy, the sisters had difficulty in practicing their silent prayers and offices.[xii] In addition, Hildegard began fighting for independence from the overly protective male monastery; thus leading her to seek a new cloister for the sisters. Then one day in a divine revelation, she was shown the location of where she and her fellow sisters were to take up residence: Rupertsburg in Bingen, along the Rhine River.[xiii] Abbott Kuno, however, fiercely opposed the move. Upon this refusal, Hildegard grew deathly ill. She solicited the help of the Archbishop Henry of Mainz and Countess von Stade, the mother of her secretary, Richardis.[xiv] In 1148, word was received from the archbishop that Abbott Kuno must let Hildegard and the women leave the cloister for Rupertsburg (Figure 1). Once Kuno's consent was finally given, Hildegard miraculously recovered from her mysterious illness.[xv] The new cloister at Rupertsburg, built on the holy grounds of Saint Rupert's former home, was state of the art for the mid-twelfth-century. It included a scriptorium, space for up to fifty nuns and running water in every room.[xvi] Volmar followed Hildegard to Rupertsburg and helped her establish the new cloister while still remaining her trusted secretary. Sadly, her other secretary and sister, Richardis von Stade, was offered the position of abbess at another monastery shortly after the move. After significant disagreement and unrest, Hildegard authorized Richardis' move, but Richardis died within weeks of the transfer.[xvii] It was in this environment that Hildegard completed and began her largest undertakings in addition to evolving her distinct feminine theology. In the midst of these events, Hildegard continued the production of Scivias, including one of her most unique and fascinating illuminated manuscripts, Ecclesia with Virginitas and Her Companions (Figure 2). The image contains Ecclesia wrapping her arms around numerous figures representing the monastic community. Ecclesia (the church) is depicted in the Hellenistic fashion as a crowned angelic figure maintaining a formal pose and holding numerous figures in her arms. Most notably, Ecclesia is female and the central figure of the image. Based on a hieratic scale, Ecclesia is the largest figure with the church community held within her arms depicted in a much smaller fashion. Standing prominently in front of Ecclesia's enclosed arms is a virginal orant in a red tunic. Behind her, are numerous virgins and a few priests and monks. Ecclesia is a statement about the various roles of the Church and its community of believers. Although the image’s hieratic scale emphasizes the Church's importance, its greater purpose is to illustrate the size of the Church as a whole. Hildegard is stating that the Church is a large entity which encompasses a worldwide community of believers. The illumination that was a trademark of such illustrated manuscripts, highlights the transcendent imagery within Ecclesia.[xviii] Furthermore, the three primary colors of the image's composition are symbolic of various aspects of the Christian community. White is symbolic for the priesthood, purple represents the monastic community of men and women while blue stood for the married laity.[xix] Three colors representing the totality of the Christian community, just as three beings comprise the totality of the Holy Trinity. Although Hildegard regards the entire Christian community and Church, her greater emphasis in Ecclesia is on the female religious community, more specifically, the virgins.[xx] For Hildegard, the woman's soul was the greatest expression of the image of God;[xxi] therefore her theological emphasis in the image was on the roles of the virgins within the Church. All the virgins in the image are crowned, some have even been martyred.[xxii] These women were most important element of the Christian church in the eyes of Hildegard.[xxiii] By doing so, a strong parallel has been drawn to all the nuns who have taken a lifetime vow of chastity to better serve God and glorify Christ. These nuns and virgins are the heart of Ecclesia. Strong women, she is saying, are the wisest ones and the most courageous workers. Virginity is not being celebrated as holier than sexual experience, but for producing wise and courageous workers. It is a fruitful virginity that is celebrated here, one of independence from patriarchy's dark shadow.[xxiv] Hildegard's insights challenged traditional medieval thinking not only for venerating the female members of the church more greatly than the men, but for celebrating virgins for their fruitful works, and not for their 'untainted virtue.' Figure 1 Figure 2 [i] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 29.
[ii] McGuire, "Monastic Artists and Educators of the Middle Ages," 5. [iii] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 33. [iv] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 16. [v] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen , 10. [vi] Ibid., 14. [vii] Ibid. [viii] Emmerson, "The Representation of Antichrist in Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias: Image, Word, Commentary, and Visionary Experience," 95. [ix] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 33. [x] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen , 27. [xi] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 44. [xii] McGuire, "Monastic Artists and Educators of the Middle Ages," 4. [xiii] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 38. [xiv] Ibid., 107. [xv] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 27-28. [xvi] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 107. [xvii] Ibid., 108. [xviii] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 17. [xix] Ibid. [xx] Ibid. [xxi] Ibid., 19. [xxii] Ibid., 17. [xxiii] Ibid. [xxiv] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen , 72 Over the next several months we will be closely examining the lives and works of various women throughout history. Today's post will begin with one of the first: Hildegard von Bingen. Starting with her early life in the church, subsequent posts will discuss the evolution of her theology as manifested in her various illuminated manuscripts. In the High Middle Ages of the German Renaissance--an era dominated by men--there emerged a single woman. She surpassed kings and popes in notoriety and personal accomplishments during her lifetime. She was a prolific writer, poet and musician. She was an artist. She was a visionary. She was Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was an innovative female figure of the monastic community who put women in the forefront of the arts and theological society. Through her revolutionary writings, visions, and illuminated manuscripts, Hildegard of Bingen created a theophany of the feminine that challenged the patriarchal domination of the Church while elevating the theological roles of women in medieval society. Upon birth, Hildegard's life was already given over to the service of God. Born the tenth child to a German knight at the castle of Bickelheim in 1098, it is believed Hildegard was "tithed"[i] to the Benedictine monastery of St. Disibode;[ii] she was given over on her eighth birthday. Prior to this consecration, Hildegard had already begun having visions as well as experiencing mysterious illnesses by the age of five. It was not for another thirty-eight years, however, that she was instructed to write about her spiritual revelations.[iii] Hildegard’s new home, St. Disibode, was the home of Jutta of Sponheim, a woman whom she came to view as both her mentor and educator (Figure 1). As a highly revered abbess of the monastery’s cloisters, Jutta was responsible for Hildegard’s education. Jutta molded Hildegard into an accomplished scholar, instructing her in biblical exegesis, the natural sciences, music, early Christian writings as well as philosophy.[iv] Hildegard spent the next thirty-five years at the cloister, advancing her training in, and understanding of, Latin while continuing to battle with her debilitating migraines and physical infirmities. Despite her formidable education, Hildegard’s historical significance truly began with the death of her educator and mentor Jutta, in 1136. Hildegard was elected the new abbess of the cloister by her fellow sisters,[v] marking the beginnings of her reputation as a revolutionary female Theologian and artist. During Hildegard’s time as abbess, she began to further evolve and expand upon her theological ideologies, most notably in her affirmation of a feminine theology. The twelfth-century gave rise to the cult of Mary which promoted an unattainable ideal for women. While the Virgin Mary was being venerated as a saint, women were being devalued and degraded for their inability to maintain such an ideal of virtue. Hildegard recognized the dangers of such an ideology and challenged the sentimentalization of Mary by creating awe-inspiring images of female spirituality. She did so through her teachings, within her numerous illuminated manuscripts and years later in her music.[vi] Themes centralized on God as mother, cosmic hospitality and art as meditation became the focus of her works and future preaching.[vii] Furthermore the male-dominated Church had focused on the doctrines of Saint Augustine’s Fall/Redemption ideology for centuries. Hildegard’s theology drastically contested these beliefs as the cosmic Christ and creation stories became a central focus to her work.[viii] Rather than concentrating on humanity’s estrangement from God, Hildegard examined how Christ was the spiritual force directing men and women to evolve spiritually in addition to their spiritual relationship with God’s creation. Her work began to fill the in gaps of a theology that had long over-looked women and their roles within the Church and God’s created world.[ix] In the midst of these theological manifestations, Hildegard received a revelation. When I was forty-two years and seven months old, a burning light of tremendous brightness coming from heaven poured into my entire mind. Like a flame does not burn but enkindles, it inflamed my entire heart and my entire breast, just like the sun that warms an object with its rays… All of a sudden, I was able to taste of the understanding of the narration of books.[x] Through a vision of light, God had appointed Hildegard as his messenger. She could no longer withhold her visions or remain silent; Hildegard was called to profess the word of the living light to God's people. As a woman, it was these visions that gave Hildegard her power and influence within the Church. Without them, "she would be a merely presumptuous female; with it found she had power precisely because that power came from God not her."[xi] She was simply a vessel used to channel the Word of God. Hildegard further emphasized her humble means, lowly female status and inability to write Latin in order to heighten the divine origins of her inspiration.[xii] Being female only meant shame for the men and priests who had grown negligent in their duties and unresponsive to God's guidance—not shame for Hildegard.[xiii] Despite the power of Hildegard's visions and their eventual international influence, she was initially brought under intense scrutiny from the Benedictine monks and other men of the Church. From the onset of her first vision in 1141, Hildegard shared her spiritual gift with Volmar, a trusted monk from her monastery in St. Disibode. As her initial confidant, Volmar recorded several of Hildegard's visions and shared them with Abbott Kuno, requesting his permission as the head of the monastery to transcribe the rest of her revelations.[xiv] Upon hearing this, Abbott Kuno called together the wisest men of the local cloisters to evaluate the validity of Hildegard's visions.[xv] The men were not responsive. Hildegard knew that spreading the message of her visions was imperative due to their divine origins; thus, she took matters into her own hands. A council of Bishops was to be held in nearby Trier and attended by one of the most powerful abbots and Doctor of the Church, Bernard Clairvaux. Knowing what transpired at the council would be passed on to Pope Eugenius III, Hildegard wrote a letter to Clairvaux beseeching his approval, not only of the divine origins of her visions, but also requesting official permission to share them.[xvi] The letter was presented at the Synod of Bishops at Trier of 1147-1148. After a favorable reception at the synod, Pope Eugenius III wrote to Hildegard and encouraged her "in the name of Christ and Saint Peter"[xvii] to share God's word and continue writing. This marked the beginning of Hildegard's strong, and often influential, relationship with the Pope(s) that both supported and pushed the Church leader to work harder for the church communities and strive for monastic reform.[xviii] With official Papal approval, Hildegard, with her secretaries Volmar and Richardis von Stade, began to work more earnestly on her magnum opus, Scivias (Figure 2). Figure 1 Figure 2 [i] Hildegard was given over to service within the Church since she was the tenth child in her family. As it is expected to give a tithe to the Church, 10% of one’s income, it is possible that being blessed with so many children during a time with a high mortality rate, Hildegard’s parents felt the need to express their gratitude by tithing their child. The practice, however, was not standardized or demanded by the Church of its followers.
[ii] McGuire, "Monastic Artists and Educators of the Middle Ages," 4. [iii] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 27. [iv] Store, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 16. [v] McGuire, "Monastic Artists and Educators of the Middle Ages," 4. [vi] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 19. [vii] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen , 12. [viii] Ibid. [ix] Fox, “Hildegard of Bingen: Cosmic Christ, Religion of Experience, God the Mother,” in Knowledge of Reality, online.[x] Ibid., 9. [xi] Dickens, "Sybil of the Rhine: Hildegard of Bingen," 33. [xii] Ibid., 37. [xiii] Ibid. [xiv] Emmerson, "The Representation of Antichrist in Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias: Image, Word, Commentary, and Visionary Experience," 95. [xv] Gottfried and Theodoric, The Life of Holy Hildegard, 38. [xvi] Storey, "Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau and Herrad of Landsberg," 16. [xvii] Jaoudi, "Religion and Ecology: Hildegard of Bingen," 67. [xviii] Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen , 7. |
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