Episode 3: The New Woman

In this episode, I told about an intriguing exhibition I went to at The Met called The New Woman Behind the Camera. According to The Met:

The New Woman of the 1920s was a powerful expression of modernity, a global phenomenon that embodied an ideal of female empowerment based on real women making revolutionary changes in life and art. Featuring more than 120 photographers from over 20 countries, this groundbreaking exhibition explores the work of the diverse "new" women who embraced photography as a mode of professional and artistic expression from the 1920s through the 1950s. During this tumultuous period shaped by two world wars, women stood at the forefront of experimentation with the camera and produced invaluable visual testimony that reflects both their personal experiences and the extraordinary social and political transformations of the era.

In this episode, I discussed Florence Henri, and while I don’t get too deep into her painting and works on paper, I think pretty clear lines can be drawn between that body of work and her photographic compositions.

Black-White-Silver No. 11, 1931, Cut-and-pasted metallic foil and paper, pencil and gouache on gray paper, Collection of the Museum of Modern Art

Abstract Composition, 1929, Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The photograph I was tasked with cataloguing is a nude portrait of Line Viala, a French accordionist, singer, and actress who was gaining popularity when she was photographed by Florence Henri in 1934.

Henri fit the definition of The New Woman Behind the Camera, and Line Viala, the singer and actress, was a New Woman herself.

Florence Henri, Line Viala, Paris, 1934. This photograph will be offered in the Sotheby’s Photographs auction Bette Davis Eyes and Other Natural Phenomena: Photographs at No Reserve, which closes on July 28.