Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
New York is undoubtedly one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the world. But it wasn’t always so. In Radicals and Rogues: The women who made New York modern, the writer and researcher Lottie Whalen reveals that its transformation in the early decades of the 20th Century was largely thanks to a bold, taboo-busting cohort of women who pushed boundaries both creatively and socially. As artists, writers, salon hosts and patrons they passionately embraced new forms of living, loving and creating. They “were harnessing a restless energy sweeping across both the US and Europe in the early 20th Century,” Whalen tells BBC Culture. Everyone from trade unionists to anarchists were agitating for more rights and looking for new ways of living. “Women in particular didn’t want to live the same lives as their mothers… they wanted to be active participants in all aspects of life,” she says.
Whalen’s book is a fascinating and inspiring account of the lives and achievements of these women, who have been largely overlooked by history and art history. She introduces us to a diverse and eclectic group of characters, from the wealthy socialites who supported modern art, such as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and Lillie Bliss, to the radical artists who challenged the status quo, such as Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and Florine Stettheimer. She also explores the connections and collaborations among these women, who formed a network of support and influence that spanned across the Atlantic and beyond.
One of the most remarkable figures in Whalen’s book is Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, a German-born artist and poet who moved to New York in 1913 and became a pioneer of Dadaism, a movement that rejected logic and reason in favor of absurdity and irrationality. Von Freytag-Loringhoven was known for her outrageous outfits and performances, which often involved nudity, sexuality and provocation. She also created some of the earliest examples of found-object art, using everyday items such as tin cans, spoons and feathers to make sculptures and collages. She is now widely credited as the true author of Fountain, the famous urinal that was attributed to Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century.
Another remarkable figure is Florine Stettheimer, a wealthy heiress who devoted her life to painting and hosting salons in her lavish apartment. Stettheimer’s paintings are colorful and whimsical, depicting scenes from her own life and the lives of her friends, who included some of the most prominent figures of the New York art scene, such as Duchamp, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Stettheimer also designed sets and costumes for the ballet Four Saints in Three Acts, which premiered in 1934 and featured an all-Black cast and a score by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein. Stettheimer was very protective of her work and refused to sell or exhibit it during her lifetime. She left her paintings to her sister Ettie, who donated them to various museums after her death.
Whalen’s book is not only a tribute to these women, but also a challenge to the dominant narratives of art history, which have often marginalized or erased their contributions. She argues that these women were not only influential in their own time, but also ahead of their time, anticipating some of the most important developments and debates of the 20th and 21st Centuries, such as feminism, multiculturalism, environmentalism and queer theory. She also shows how these women were not only inspired by European modernism, but also contributed to it, creating a dialogue and exchange that enriched both sides of the ocean. Whalen’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of New York, the history of art, and the history of women.
