Outside man, Art does not exist
October 24, 2016 2:14 PM   Subscribe

Marlow Moss was a radical lesbian who apprenticed herself to Léger and became a modernist to rival Mondrian.
She is one of the great figures of modern English art (keep Scrolling).
The first full-length academic study of Marlow Moss in English wasn't written until 2008.
posted by adamvasco (14 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Would prefer if Guardian link did not start off article by referring to Moss as "it" to express that to one observer on one occasion, her gender was not immediately obvious. I get that they wanted to start with that quote, but that basically starts the story with "wow, look at this person whose gender we can't determine, this is the hook for the article". But no, the hook for the article is not that Marlow Moss didn't look girlish; the hook for the article is, or should be, her art.
posted by Frowner at 2:24 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


But thanks for this post, adamvasco - I had never heard of her and she seems very interesting, plus you did not write the Guardian lead!
posted by Frowner at 2:24 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


Damn this is rad as hell. I'll show this to my wife tonight, she's in grad school getting an MFA and we're all about researching queer artists right now.
posted by Annika Cicada at 2:30 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Inside man, it's too dark to... see art?

H/T Groucho Marx.
posted by diane47 at 2:38 PM on October 24, 2016 [5 favorites]


1940 Returned to England
Entire output of her work destroyed by enemy action in France
Studied architecture, which led to constructive sculpture based on geometrical principles


Talk about rising from the flames!
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:56 PM on October 24, 2016


"During the Leeds show, I gave a queer tour of the gallery," says Howarth, laughing. "I started talking about the problems of Marlow Moss being seen only in terms of Mondrian, and a couple of women stopped me. 'Who's this Mondrian?' they said. It was great."

Heh.
posted by gusottertrout at 3:02 PM on October 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


I'll be goddamned. Her work is like Mondrian, only better.
posted by anguspodgorny at 3:58 PM on October 24, 2016


Exquisite works of art. My cup of bliss.

How cool to learn about her now, brilliant, courageous and avant garde.

Thanks for the great post adamvasco.
posted by nickyskye at 4:42 PM on October 24, 2016


In 1923, inspired by a biography of Marie Curie, she was able to return to London to study in the British Museum Reading Room, then studied sculpture at the Penzance School of Art, before taking up painting and setting up a London studio in 1926. At this point in her life she permanently adopted a masculine appearance (short hair, cravat and jodhpurs) and changed her forename to Marlow.

If this isn't an Origin Story, I will eat my hat.

A bit more seriously, I think I like Constructivism more the older I get. Its pretense of simplicity takes a lot of growing into.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


I just had one of those "how come nobody told me about this artist before?" moments.
The Guardian article mentions another artist I hadn't heard of before, Paule Vezelay.
posted by larrybob at 6:23 PM on October 24, 2016


One of the most homophobic, misogynistic assholes I ever met was a huge Mondrian fan, which kind of tainted my enjoyment of his art and make me wonder if maybe it was one of those Things Assholes Like. So this delights me.

Here i must also give a shout out to the @WomensArt Twitter feed, which puts magical stuff in my timeline every day.
posted by emjaybee at 7:47 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


The "who inspired whom" discussion about Moss and Mondrian is interesting.
Marlow Moss was more or less considered [viewed] as a minor Mondrian imitator, although that is a really mean thing because she made her paintings the opposite way round to Mondrian, despite the visual similarities – and Mondrian loved her work.
Moss’s take on neo-plasticism is mathematically based, Mondrian’s is instinctual. Some people also suggest that Mondrian was influenced by her rather than vice versa.
.

In 1932, on exhibiting Composition in White, Black, Red and Grey, Moss received a written request from Mondrian to explain her use of the double line. She cited three basic reasons. (1) Single lines produce an impression of planar surfaces; (2) single lines render the composition static; and (3), double, or multiple, lines have a dynamic effect by ensuring “a continuity of related and interrelated rhythm in space.” Persuaded, Mondrian employed the double line the same year.
posted by adamvasco at 6:37 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]


Just from the looks of their works, I'd say the influence went both ways. Some of Moss's paintings are really powerful in a way that isn't as true of similar works from Mondrian, so I suspect he must have taken note of that, while Moss surely took inspiration from Mondrian as a leaping off point.
posted by gusottertrout at 6:49 AM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]


Though, to be clear, I'm no expert on such things, just noting what it looks like from an amateur perspective.
posted by gusottertrout at 6:50 AM on October 25, 2016


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