Gender issues are revealed in different areas of people’s lives, and art is no exception. The two chosen examples of artwork are connected with mythology, history, biography, psychology, and culture (Lazzari and Schlezier 321, 354). The first masterpiece of Peter Paul Rubens, “Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus,” created in Flanders in 1617, represents historical art with the thematic depiction of Greek mythology (Lazzari and Schlezier 354). This work reveals the topic of masculinity and femininity appearance and shows the ideas about gender in those times, including behavioral aspects (Lazzari and Schlezier 354). The second example represents Mexican culture and the peasant way of life (Lazzari and Schlezier 321). The painting is a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo called “Self-Portrait with Monkey,” created in Mexico in 1938 (Lazzari and Schlezier 321). It mainly refers to the author’s psychological state and reveals her life tragedy through this painting. This work reveals gender issues, showing a strong woman who went through loss and grief. The masterpieces of Rubens and Kahlo reveal hidden gender issues of the seventeenth and twentieth centuries and raise the problematic matter of this topic for modern society.
The artworks’ aim, context, and origin strongly impact societies and generations. Peter Paul Rubens’s painting has roots in ancient Greece, addressing the contextual point of gender in the Greek mythological world, the cult of relationships between men and women, and the social impact on these relationships and marriage (Baldassi 11). The story behind the painting aims to show viewers the ancient story about the famous characters of Castor and Pollux and their attitude toward and perception of the daughters of Leucippus in the context of gender stereotypes. Peter Paul Rubens, famous for his passion for ancient Greek and Roman mythology, was inspired by historical facts and created this masterpiece. Potential categories of people interested in his work are historians, mythologists, and scientists because Rubens depicted dramatic scenes from myths and stories, showing movement through natural colors.
Frida Kahlo remains one of the most remarkable artists in contemporary art. The paintings of Frida Kahlo come from Mexico and represent the cultural spirit of that country (Lazzari and Schlezier 321). Her work’s context embraces women’s strength and bravery in complicated living conditions and constant grief. The image of the woman in the painting acquires a kind of masculinity by showing herself as fearless and strong. The world knows Frida Kahlo for her personality, which involved feminism, disabling, revolution, gender fluidity, and nationalism, remaining an iconic character in the modern world (Cohen). Many people are interested in her artworks, although the target group of Frida’s art is women with complicated fates who find support and condolence in her themes. In closing, both masterpieces raise the problem of gender representation in different times and ways.
The paintings of Rubens and Kahlo are examples of contrasting artworks with a common message. Frida touches on the theme of gender in her self-portrait, focusing on the psychological state of one character. A similar theme is found in Ruben’s work, where features of gender are revealed. Both works reveal women’s essences and moods, highlighting their appearance and emotions. A common function is also found in these works, which is the depiction of women’s fate. Rubens shows the daughters of Leucippus and their living conditions of being dependent on men that play a role in their fates. The painting represents their facial expressions and postures, which motivates viewers to draw conclusions about their unfortunate fate (Lazzari and Schlezier 354). The forced marriage that lies behind this work and the message about women’s unwanted life circumstances introduce the gender problem in those times, representing masculine supremacy over females. This problem finds its place in today’s society, as a high rate of gender inequality and violence is present in modern families.
Frida Kahlo, who went through tough life trials, decided to reveal her fate events’ influence on the paintings. Her work shows the viewer a woman with masculine facial features and a thoughtful gaze. Frida represents her personality in the artwork as a suffering woman who tries to keep living (Barkley 142). She portrays her persona with a monkey, which is her alter ego and the symbol of her personal story (Lazzari and Schlezier 321). The message is common for both works of Rubens and Kahlo, as they depict women as strong individuals who do not surrender and resist their evil fates. The two objects look different, although they function similarly, focusing on the female appearance and behavior depicted in the masterpieces.
Being painted at different times by different genders, the works contrast noticeably. First, Rubens used oil on canvas, whereas Kahlo painted with oil on Masonite (Lazzari and Schlezier 354, 321). The locations shown in the artworks also differ, where the first example depicts the events happening in ancient Greece and the second one illustrates the background of Mexican peasant life. The work of Rubens represents the straight context of history, where women are captured by men and have to obey their will. On the contrary, Frida’s complicated symbolism shows an independent woman who is emotionally neutral and remains unbreakable. The contrast is represented in Rubens’s work, which tells about women’s abduction against their will as a common notion in ancient Greek mythology (Devadas 7). The culture behind these two works varies, where the first example represents the traditions of ancient Greece and the second one shows a more contemporary social image.
The artwork of Kahlo tells viewers that a woman lives in a free society and can express herself in her own way and manner. Both masterpieces are created in different styles — Baroque and Primitivism — which is the key element of their non-similarity (Lazzari and Schlezier 354, 321). As can be seen from the paintings, Rubens’s female characters reveal sad emotions and are vulnerable and weak, while Kahlo’s character is opposed. Consequently, it can be stated that, despite having the same main message about female gender roles in society, the paintings represent different persons, where Rubens’s women look feminine and Kahlo’s woman looks masculine.
The paintings of Peter Paul Rubens and Frida Kahlo are opposite artworks that portray their own stories and convey the audience’s message of women’s beauty, intelligence, and fate. Frida, with her self-portrait, symbolizes a contemporary woman who experiences challenges that result in her acquiring masculine features. On the contrary, Rubens carries the symbol of feminine attractiveness and weakness, who face life difficulties but survive and stay beautiful. His characters reveal to the audience the concept of sexually and appealing women in the seventeenth century in Europe. The first example’s main message about gender states that women are beautiful according to the standards of that time, being helpless and unprotected against men’s behavior. The second example’s main message connected with gender states that a woman is impacted by social and political forces, which change her inner state, not her emotional expression. The audience now has an idea about gender perception and female roles in the societies of Greek and Mexican cultures at different times.
Works Cited
Baldassi, Claudia. The Leucippides in Greek Myth: Abductions, Rituals and Weddings. The University of Edinburgh, 2018. Web.
Barkley, Andrew. Imperfect Heroes: Teaching in Challenging Times to Motivate Student Achievement. Rowman & Littlefield, 2022.
Cohen, Alina. “This Artwork Changed My Life.” Artsy, Web.
Devadas, Anju. “Crimes of Passion: Representation of Women and Female Sexuality in Mythological Abduction Paintings of Peter Paul Rubens.” Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science, vol. 6, no. 12, 2018, pp. 6-13. Web.
Lazzari, Margaret, and Dona Schlesier. Exploring Art: A Global Thematic Approach. 5th ed., Cengage Learning, 2016.