ART IN FEFU
The very first line of Fefu and Her Friends is, "My husband married me to have a constant reminder of how loathsome women are." It's quite the statement to make, and depending on interpretation could range from laugh-out-loud funny to repellingly offensive. However, the line itself is the knife that slices through the play, and which all the following action examines.
In Part II, during the bedroom scene, Julia experiences a series of hallucinations. The stage directions describe her state as such, "Julia hallucinates. However, her behavior should not be the usual behavior attributed to a mad person. It should be rather still and luminous. There will be aspects of her hallucination that frighten her, but hallucinating itself does not." Julia recalls the male judges comments on women's bodies, which objectify and define explicitly how a woman should appear, using the example of Isadora Duncan and Ruben's women as the anti-aesthetic, and Goya's Maya as the ideal. What images does Julia have in her mind as she recounts this story? What images do the men have in their minds as they make these assertions?
Excerpt from Julia's monologue
FRANCISCO GOYA
Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was a Spanish Romantic painter. Referred to as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns, he is regarded as one of the greatest painters of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. Over the span of his career, Goya gradually moved from themes of the lighthearted and joyous in his work to a darker and more violent aesthetic. Two of his most popular and enduring works are La Maja Vestuda and La Maja Desnuda, two identical paintings, save for the addition or removal of garments from the model, whose identity is unknown. The painting is known for the model's unashamed gaze at the viewer. "Maja" refers to the middle-lower classes of Spanish society. Although the identity of the model is unknown, legend has it she was the Duchess of Alba, Goya's muse.
La Maja Vestida (The Clothed Maya) Francisco Goya, c. 1800-1805. Museo del Prado, Madrid.
La Maja Desnuda (The Nude Maya) Francisco Goya, c. 1797–1800. Museo del Prado, Madrid.
PETER PAUL RUBENS
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish artist, synonymous with the Baroque style. One of the most productive artists of the seventeenth century, during his lifetime, he produced a tremendous output of work, known for its dramatic and sensual qualities. He placed a strong emphasis on movement in his paintings and ushered in a new era of naturalism in his paintings. Many of his paintings refer to the biblical and mythological. Rubens often used full-figured and curvaceous women in his paintings, so much so that the term "Rubenesque" developed to describe voluptuous women in a complimentary way. Highly influenced by Renaissance classicism, Rubens imbued his work with a heightened sense of realism expressed through the details of the human form. His treatment and portrayal of women's bodies in his artwork is central to his legacy.
