The Eternal Feminine by Katelyn Eichwald

Paul Cézanne, The Eternal Feminine, 1877.Oil on canvas. 17 x 20 7/8 in.  (Credit: J. Paul Getty Museum)

In Paul Cézanne's The Eternal Feminine, men from different occupations (musicians, painters, a bishop) surround a female nude. Although The Eternal Feminine relates to much of Katelyn Eichwald's work, where women are painted in vulnerable situations and/or as a mere object to the male mythology, Eichwald appropriated Paul Cézanne's painting including it within the context of her body of work.

The context in which Eichwald presents the painting is very distant from the Cézanne piece.  The Eternal Feminine by Cézanne was painted in 1877. The painting is part of the J. Paul Getty Museum collection and is seen by thousands of people daily. Eichwald's The Eternal Feminine, on the other hand, was painted in 2012. The painting lives in her one-bedroom apartment in Chicago and the only person who has seen Eichwald's The Eternal Feminine in person (other than herself) is her boyfriend Michael. 

The distant history of both objects does not stop there. In 1954, the female nude in Cézanne's The Eternal Feminine was given a retouch to make her look less disturbing and more feminine. Only in 1991, Cézanne's The Eternal Feminine was restored to its "original." Eichwald's The Eternal Feminine female nude always had her red socket eyes.

While in most interpretations of Cézanne's The Eternal Feminine, a bald figure admiring the female nude might be Cézanne, in Eichwald's The Eternal Feminine, the bald figure is Cézanne. Also, in Eichwald's The Eternal Feminine, the female nude might be Eichwald herself (with her long golden hair). 

Cézanne's The Eternal Feminine has been known by many other titles such as The Golden Calf, The Triumph of
Woman, Apotheosis of Woman, La Belle Impéria, and The Whore of Babylon, while Eichwald's painting is only known by The Eternal Feminine. 

Paul Cézanne, The Eternal Feminine, 1877. (Picture between 1954-1991/ Without red eye sockets). (Credit: J. Paul Getty Museum) 

Thoughts on Katelyn Eichwald's Cowboy Project

Katelyn Eichwald, Images from the installation Cowboy Project, 2012 (ongoing). Mixed media on black wall, size varies. 

Katelyn Eichwald’s Cowboy Project is an installation composed of over 600 (and counting) paintings, drawings, writings, objects, and collages. At first, these small pieces together on a black wall construct the myth of a man. Each piece functions as proof of his existence. Eichwald paints his sister, his blanket, his ruptured spleen, show us his lunch receipt, presents a photo of a mountain he climbed yesterday, but we are never sure of his precise identity.

The inclusion of pieces such as an exhibition postcard of Picasso with the text,  “the cowboy calls him papa,” a used paper palette with text “he painted a bird,” and another text piece made with a faded highlighter “painting is like playing the guitar,” are examples of pieces that point to this man's relationship to painting. To me, however, the project refers not only to this man’s relationship to painting but, more particularly, to the history and myth of the male painter. By having these references, Eichwald reminds viewers of how distant she is from this history.  

The cowboy’s identity remains a mystery. But my guess is Mark Grotjahn. 

To see more images of the Cowboy Project: www.katelyneichwald.com