Famous Austrians VII: Lisette Model

San Francisco, Lisette Model, 1949

Born Elise Amelie Felicie Stern in Vienna in 1901, Lisette Model is one of the most iconic women photographers of the 20th century. She moved from Vienna to Nice as a young girl, and then to Paris to study music in 1926. She later switched her focus to painting and photography and moved to New York with her husband in 1938. To earn a living at first, she worked as a staff photographer for Harper's Bazaar. In the 1950s, she taught photography at the New School in New York. Among her pupils was a young Diane Arbus.

Coney Island, New York, 1941, Lisette Model

Her work is evocative of a need for questioning human motives, society, and in many cases the lives of those on the social fringe in the 1940's and 1950's when Model was at the height of her fecundity. Divorcees, the obese, old people were all considered viable, and worthy, photographic subjects - which can be seen taken to an even further extreme in Arbus' works. Her street scenes and night life photographs are also famous and enduring. The human form, in all its intricacies: beauty, reality of form and figure, necessity of limbs and movement, at once familiarity and strangeness.

Reflections, New York, 1939, Lisette Model

Model died in 1983, but her work lives on. A particularly good  permanent exhibit of her work is at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.  There are also pieces at the MoMA in New York and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. 

Bank Austria Does Frida Kahlo

Several weeks ago...before I even went to Prague...I went to the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Kunstforum in Vienna.

I greatly enjoy Frida Kahlo, as a woman and an artist. Unquestionably, she had genius qualities. I was very impressed by the whole collection, and found out a lot about Frida - I mean, more than I learned from the Salma Hayek movie. Although Salma was great - very artistically driven and all, but I could not help feeling it was a bit...one-sided?

Like, for example, why the heck did Frida do so many self-portraits? What is the art historian's perspective on this? Something like, art reflects life, life is fragile and subjective and the duty of the artist is to find the greatest artistic expression in some sort of muse...subject...whatever.

My uncultured perspective is that she is a self-important brat who thinks the greatest artistic expression is found in herself. Why go any farther in seeking truth and beauty when the mirror is only steps away? And just as good (i.e. better) than the "traditional" muse.

And, yeah she had a crappy life...like sustaining major injuries in a bus accident when she was 18 (and being plagued by these same injuries for the rest of her life), marrying a man 20 years her senior who was unfaithful to her, and putting her faith in Communism...which may or may not have been a disappointment for her (I have no way of knowing, but considering how faith in Communism normally works out for people...)

But think of all of the positive things that happened to her! She became famous and successful within her lifetime, which is incredibly difficult for any (serious) artist. She is still regarded as one of the leading (and few female) surrealist painters, and even though her husband had lots of affairs and hurt her, she had plenty of affairs herself - with some pretty heavy-duty characters! Which, of course, is not cool. That's nothing I condone. But, still...when you got it...?

This makes me wonder, when good things happen to you, must they be regulated by bad things happening as well? Are any of us free to live our lives, or is there a greater force beyond what we know? Frida would certainly not believe in a higher force...or any higher power at all, if she was a true Trotskyist (maybe she just slept with him without seriously considering his ideas...) but perhaps this would have helped her frame of mind.

Wie bleibe ich Feministin?

Recently I read an article in the Salzburger Nachrichten about this woman who wrote a book about being a feminist in Austria.

Yeah. That was my question: is this even possible?

Oy vey. That's what I have to say. Feminists are hard to come by. Everything seems male-dominated and run by assholes. Not that I'm being critical, or judgmental, or generalizing. But, seriously. It's, like, a Catholic thing.

And before you jump all over me, I was raised Catholic. And think about it: priests are the ones who get to do the cool things. The nuns get to a) sit around in their cloisters and knit sweaters for orphans b) teach or c) become nurses - and many Catholic hospitals and schools are going all secular (probably because they can't find enough nuns to employ...)

So, this brings me to my point. Feminism - is it dead? I will give you and example.

Recently, one of the topics in class was maternity leave. A comparison between American and Austrian legality issues for the new mother. One of the teachers was telling me before class what a feminist she was, and how she was so interested in this topic. So I told the class what I know about American maternity leave - that women only get 12 weeks paid leave after they have a child, and most working women put their babies in daycare when the babies are still quite young. In contrast, Austrian women get 16 weeks maternity leave directly before and after the birth of the child, and up to 2 years off after they give birth - and they have job security during those two years.

SO...I was telling the class about my own mother, to illustrate (with an example) the types of expectations American women have...at least, what the situation was like in the 80's when my mother was giving birth...and  that both my sister and I were born prematurely, so my mom had to take unpaid leave to take care of us - and my Grandma came to live with us for a while after I was born.

Women who want to spend more time with their kids (like, for example, before they reach school age) and don't like the system  - 12 weeks if you're lucky - end up having to choose between being a mother and having a career. Something Austrian women (because they have so much time off - AND job security) don't have to worry about.

Afterward, the teacher told me about her own children (who are now basically the same age as my sister and me - not exactly babies anymore) and how she could never imagine leaving them with strangers when they were 6 months old or whatever - it was just unthinkable - and that she took 4 years off total to be with her children. And she would have missed their childhood, unable to forgive herself, had she not taken the time off.

That's all well and good. I'm glad for you, honey.

The thing is, I don't think she got the whole "cultural differences" thing. Like, duh, the whole reason we were discussing this was because there is a distinct difference in the way two countries treat mothers (and, I guess, women in general) and if you don't get that (and inadvertently condemn someone like my wonderful mother without knowing all the facts), then why the hell would you use that as a discussion topic in class???? And are you really a feminist if you're condemning other women?

At least I know this: if and when I have kids, if I am living in the United States, (the idea is becoming less and less appealing the more time I spend outside of the US...) I will probably do what my mother did, rather than compromise my career. Because having a career - and intellectual pursuits outside of motherhood - is something very important to me.  I think I would always feel incomplete if I stayed at home and baked cookies or whatever. I mean, that's a stereotype and all, but...well, stay-at-home moms do not have the same types of lives or priorities that working women do. That's just a given. And, for God's sake, my undergraduate degree cost roughly $120,000. An chunk of change like that would keep Donna Reed in pearls and pumps for life (if you consider the 1950's dollar, rather than the 2010 dollar - it's all just a fantasy anyway).

Now, if I'm living in a country that has, oh, I don't know...comprehensive care for mothers, and job security after giving birth for up to 2 years (a place like Austria, for example) that is an entirely different story. I would basically not have to make a compromise.

Apples to oranges.