The exhibition "Battle of the Sexes. Franz von Stuck to Frida Kahlo" deals with the artistic examination of gender roles from the mid-19th century to the end of World War II. The traditional definition of male and female as active/passive, rational/emotional, culture/nature was an intensely treated theme in modernist art: many artists presented their audiences with exaggerated character traits and underpinned stereotypical role models in their works. Others attacked common role clichés and attempted to break them down through strategies such as irony, exaggeration, masquerade, and hybridization.
On the basis of a selection of some 140 works of painting, sculpture, graphic art, photography, as well as films, the large-scale exhibition project sets itself the task of identifying particularly incisive artistic positions and placing them in a dialogue.
The exhibition builds on the Städel Museum's collection, which includes paintings by Max Liebermann, Edvard Munch, and Franz von Stuck, sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and photographs by Frank Eugene and Man Ray.
Among the important loans will be well-known names in art history, such as Gustave Moreau, Édouard Manet, Gustav Klimt, Otto Dix, Meret Oppenheim, and Frida Kahlo, are selectively juxtaposed with discoveries that add meaningful positions to the canon, including artists such as Leonor Fini, Jeanne Mammen, Rudolf Jettmar, and Gustav Adolf Mossa.
Against the backdrop of the intense discussion on gender issues and the ever-changing role of women and men, the project offers an insight into the complexity of the issue and illuminates the art historical dimension of a highly relevant socio-political topic.
(Source: Städel Museum Frankfurt)
