Figurehead c. 1937

Frances Cohen made this watercolor painting titled 'Figurehead', most likely sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It depicts a weathered classical bust. Cohen, as a woman artist in this period, would have been navigating a complex social landscape. Women were gaining more access to formal art education, but their work was often viewed differently from that of their male counterparts. One must ask: Is she challenging the traditionally male-dominated art world by depicting a classical subject? Is the weathered state of the sculpture a metaphor for the decay of traditional social structures? Or, on the contrary, is the bust's survival through time a symbol of the enduring nature of classical values? To truly understand this artwork, one might delve into exhibition records and publications of the period. This could reveal how Cohen's work was received by critics and the public, and shed light on the socio-political context in which she was creating. Ultimately, art’s meaning shifts and evolves based on these contexts.