Critical Artist Expression by Mary Beth Edelson

Mary Beth Edelson, Some Living American Women Artists/Last Supper, 1972

Mary Beth Edelson was deemed as one of the “first generation feminist artists” who was known to be an initiator of the feminist art movement. Her work consisted of murals, drawings, collages, paintings, and much more. As a civil rights activist, a lot of her work consisted of revamping the past and bringing femininity into history. She acknowledges that women privilege was deprived in history, so her work creates a new perspective of how woman could have been presented in the past if they weren’t penalized for being females. I feel as if Edelson critically addresses a social and political issue in her famous work “Some Living AmericanWomen/Artists/Last Supper". Her painting is an edit of the famous Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait which she edited portrayed 69 female artists and replaced the original male characters. This 1972 work of art even featured the faces of Georgia O'Keefe, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Louise Bourgeois, who were all iconic figures of women and art. This art piece speaks loud because it is rebelling against religion’s tradition of oppressing women by painting in strong figures in this historic painting.  Edelson is a woman of many talents such as being an author, photographer, printmaker, and more but I truly do think her talent and passion speaks loudly for women. She is one of the many voices  for women by creating bold images of women. Her work in this particular piece became a defining picture of the movement for women and I truly admire her work. 

By: Hena Rana