Eric
Perenyi
Dr. Mary J. Sullivan
HUM 3999
11 July 2013
The Family
After my trip to the Colorado
Springs Fine Arts Center, I realized how little I know about art. I also realized that if given a chance, an
artist and his/her work could have a lasting impact on me. Although I was treated to several different
works while at the Fine Arts Center, the one that had the biggest impact on me
was a sculpture call “The Family” by William Zorach. As a father and a husband, this was a sculpture
that I could personally relate to.
Having read some of Berger’s arguments, I was able to further put into
perspective what I had just seen. As a
Women’s and Ethnic Studies (WEST) major, I have learned to look at certain
things from a social class and gender point of view. In the book Ways of Seeing, John Berger addresses the issue of gender. The purpose of my essay is to analyze and
confirm Berger’s argument about gender as it relates to art.
In 1963 (three years before his
death), William Zorach created a sculpture that he called “The Family.” This statue depicts a man (the father), a boy
(older son), an infant (male or female) and a woman (wife and mother). The first thing that came to mind when I
looked at this sculpture was that the entire family was without clothing and
the context of the image was as if they were in a public venue (I will address
this later). While analyzing the art, I
realized that the statue depicted the separation of gender. Berger makes reference that a man’s presence
is dependent upon the promise of power and this promised power may be moral,
physical, temperamental, economic, social and or sexual (Berger 45). In this sculpture, Dad stands taller and
firmer than everyone else (physical) and he appears to be very attentive to his
surroundings as he functions as the protector and provider for his family
(moral, temperamental, economic and social).
Although mom is playing an active role in the family structure as she
nurtures the infant, it is clear that she is not in a position of power and
that she is an object (not a subject). Mom
is in a supporting role. She is the
nurturer and the educator of the children and she provide whatever services are
needed to support the man’s family. For
her efforts, she is rewarded by a label in society that is in association with
her husband and her children and on display for others. In essence, she is not her own person but
rather an extension of her husband.
Although the infant is very much in need of mom’s services, the older
child displays the maturity and appearance that he no longer needs mom’s
teachings and nurturing, thus, he is ready to peruse manhood.
Earlier, I addressed the fact that
the entire family was without clothes.
As described by Berger, there is a difference between being naked and
being nude. Individually, mom would be
naked (a form of dress or lack of) and on display for others to view. As a family and with the presence of dad, the
classification changes to nude, which makes it a matter of art according to
Kenneth Clark (Berger 53).
Although created in 1963, The Family sculpture is timeless and probably
represents a historical period that covers thousands of years. Although families are never nude in public,
the statue represents gender (past, present and future). In closing, most of the art that I saw at the
Fine Arts center addresses gender (usually in an oppressive manner for the
female). History teaches us that gender
inequality has existed for a very long time so it makes perfect sense that this
inequality would be depicted in most forms of art.
John
Berger, Ways of Seeing (London: Penguin Books, 1972), 45, 53. Print.
William
Zorach (1887-1966)
THE
FAMILY, 1963
bronze
Gift of First Nationwide Bank, FA 1994.2
Modernist
William Zorach exhibited in the landmark 1913 Armory Show in New York. Born in Russia, he and his artist wife,
Marguerite, are both represented in the Museum’s collection. The Family is the first in an edition of two
bronzes cast after an earlier rejection of the image in a public commission
competition at the Dallas, Texas, State Fairgrounds, and was originally placed
in a niche especially created for it in the Mining Exchange Building in
downtown Colorado Springs. After the
building’s sale and a brief time in Denver, the sculpture was installed here in
1995.