arthistory – Didi Hoffman

Women’s art cannot have a future without a history

Helen Frankenthaler like Malvina Hoffman an important 20th Century Artist — 20th Century artist Helen Frankenthaler in her studio

The women’s art scene is heating up, along with a movement to promote LGBTQ and women-of-color artists. When I say artists, I mean creatives of every kind. Bravo, I say, but, a question. What happened to the former women who paved the path over the past centuries for our present-day movement? Read Why Buying Women’s Art A Good Investment I’ve been told these women were irrelevant, that they slept with their teachers and that gave them fame. I was told this to my face. Unless their names are Georgia O’Keeffe or Frida Kahlo, there seems an incredible lack of interest to learn the stories of the other women who battled it out in the all-male trenches to provide contemporary creative women opportunity. Surely, we know more than a handful of women artists who are worthy of recognition in history? But, can you name them? Give me twenty, I bet you cannot. Now give me twenty men…snap.

At the turn of the 20^th century, and throughout mid century, women artists were still an unusual sight. Until marriage, a woman might study art, but it was mainly for refinement and most were subjugated to home and family after marriage – an important and worthy place, but with the expectancy to give up any dreams of a life in the arts.

Mary Cassatt one of the few early 20th century women artists remembered today — By Mary Cassatt. Commenting in American Artist, Gemma Newman noted that Mary Cassatt’s objective was to achieve force, not sweetness; truth, not sentimentality or romance. Her father objected to Cassatt living the bohemian life of an artist and would not support her education in art.

Which brings me to this story. Women talk the talk about equality, but they don’t live it. I follow museum and gallery exhibitions, read digital marketing posts of creative women on the rise and can say, there is a lot of looking in the mirror and self-congratulatory rhetoric, but no contextual understanding of the authentic 360 degrees of reality. No history. Where do these emerging artists stand in the present tense in relation to those who came before them? How are they honoring the past, while forging a new future? Or is the past dead and irrelevant, as I was told on several occasions?

Many women are online promoting themselves, “look at me,” but have no interest in supporting those who came before them. Museum curators want youth, fresh ideas, new ways of seeing the world, and that is only right. It feels many in the contemporary art scene, including the popular critics, don’t care to know the women who lived extraordinary lives or realize why or how they changed everything. These founding mothers of art have been pushed aside, thrown into museum’s forgotten, dark basement, archives. It only takes one generation for an artist to be forgotten, and most of them are, with the intention of the mostly male gallery owners and curators, women.

Artists learn their craft from teachers first, through those who came before them. In the past, women mainly sought male teachers who generally viewed women as frivolous, problematic and sexual fodder. Many had to leave their families to pursue their dreams. There were very few female mentors and teachers. It is said, to become great, one must first work 10,000 hours learning under those who have mastered their craft. Part of the 10,000 hours is time with experienced teachers, who provide technique and basic skills. Only after these skills are mastered then, true genius emerges. Many of our female founders had to learn the basics while fending off sexual advances of their teachers or learning from a master who had little interest in them as students.

Malvina Hoffman completes one of many great commissions — Malvina Hoffman spent weeks 90′ above the ground to finish her colossal sculpture for the Bush House (BBC for years) in London. She wanted to make sure the lighting was perfect on the faces. She tea stained the entire sculpture so the stones would be the same the same color. MASTHEAD ABOVE: Malvina Hoffman’s sculpture graces the Epinal Memorial in Vosages, France, honoring WW2 soldiers lost in battle.

Perhaps I sound bitter, but it is really sorrow. How many interviews have I listened to where women want to talk about women who matter… or rather, women who matter right now. The women who came before the great birth of feminine creativity in the 21^st century never had the platforms available today. They are not found in history books and their talent is buried. They were silenced simply for being born female. Our creative, young women today need to stop and take a moment to learn their story.

Now is a great time to be a woman artist, the barriers are being torn down. I challenge female artists and critics to listen to the stories of the unknown women who shattered the art world before them, died, were buried, and forgotten. This will happen to today’s artists if they don’t build a historic thread. Like the song from the play Hamilton Who Will Tell Yours Story, who will tell your story if no one is writing the history? Today’s Instagram post will be buried and forgotten tomorrow.

For women artists to survive over the generations, we must share the entire history and keep playing it forward. For contemporary artists I say, share the treasured stories of the pioneers in feminine art history. It’s the only way to make sure, long after your gone, someone will tell your story. If you are the only one selling yourself, when you are gone, you will be forgotten, even if you change everything. Let’s not forget, Georgia O’Keeffe’s husband was Alfred Stieglitz, the greatest art promoter of the 20^th century. He made sure someone told her story. Every artist needs a storyteller besides themselves and the best storyteller is the history of women’s art. Start honoring the women who are forgotten, who brought you here… so future generations will be able to name at least twenty female artists without hesitation.

Rant over.

Sculptor Malvina Hoffman (1885-1966) Writes Her Fourth Book – Through Me

I know, this headline sounds crazy, but it’s true! I was captured by a muse and oh, what a ride it’s been! Sculptor Malvina Hoffman first found me at the home of her great nephew Chip. We began dating in 2008, and he invited me to his beautiful condo overlooking the St. John’s River in Jacksonville, Florida. When I first entered his home I was struck by an unusually large number of incredible sculptures. “Who is the artist?” I asked. He told me it was his great aunt Malvina, and then shared a few stories of her life. Words like Rodin, Paris, around- the-world, largest commission history of bronze, were mentioned, but I couldn’t hear him, because I was love struck. My muse grabbed my heart and that was it.

No doubt, Chip brought me back to his apartment as a move to seduce. It worked, I fell hard, I fell hard for Malvina Hoffman. The good news is Chip and I also later fell in love and married in 2013!

But, Malvina – I was an amateur collector and art lover. I traveled and visited enough museums to know many different artists in history and today, but I never heard of Malvina Hoffman. This made me mad, she was magnificent. At that moment, Malvina picked me to tell her story and bring her back to her rightful place in history, art history and American history. I had no choice. My destiny was fated.

Over the past six years I studied, researched, wrote and rewrote her story. My first draft was in first person, I didn’t like it. I took the 70,000 words and rewrote them into third person. Malvina’s bronze self portrait still sits on my desk and she watches over me, even now as I write this blog. While I wrote she pushed me, prodded me and demanded I tell her story well.

Malvina did leave me once. She simply disappeared. I was shattered and went to a famous medium to find out why (desperate people do desperate things). My mother first came through, but I told my mother I didn’t have much time and needed to talk to my muse. Malvina made herself known, she was a very successful businesswoman, an intellectual and artist – she did not play games. “Stop writing about my love life,” was the general message I received through the medium, who relayed this message via the fourth dimension. I was writing about her love life, my title was ‘Love Letters to Malvina.’ I took this message very seriously and promised to not go there. Malvina came back to me and I didn’t betray her trust. Five years later my book (co written by the muse herself) Beautiful Bodies – The Adventures of Malvina Hoffman, found it ‘s way into the literary world. My hope is you will fall in love with Malvina as I have. Her story is Forrest Gump – like, in that she knew everyone and was in the middle of everything in early 20th century history. Not only that, but she was one hell of a sculptor. She was awarded a front page obituary in the New York Times, such was her fame. Malvina is now forgotten, like most women artists. It’s time to bring her back to her rightful place in art history, to the head of the class, remembered as when she died “America’s Rodin.”

Order Malvina’s Story – Click Here