‘The Other Side’ by Jennifer Higgie

Receiving inspiration from ‘The Other Side’ doesn’t result in guaranteed success for female artists. That is one of the many lessons I’ve learned whilst reading Jennifer Higgies’ interesting book.

I have experienced that myself. When I painted my Angel Wing series, inspiration came to me so fast that I had to take notes. It felt like Inspiration took over, I felt I had to paint day and night. After nine angel wings, however, I paused the project (but kept my notes with ideas). I had my angel wings professionally printed and listed them on Etsy. Surely, the Nine Muses of the Arts, or the Nature Angels who whispered inspiration would help me going viral with my cute angel wings! Instead, -I am painfully honest here-, I had dispiriting sales.

This lead me to believe that Inspiration, the Nine Muses of the Arts, angels, or whatever had a fun time inspiring me, had zero interest in mundane tasks, like selling art. I can laugh about it now, but somehow I had expected that my flow of inspiration would spill over to the public. I think Inspiration has a need to inspire artists but completely lacks interest in all other aspects of the artist’s life.

Taping into the spiritual well

The Other Side shows how women artists tapped into the well of spiritual inspiration. Whether you name it divine, mathematical, scientific, or religious inspiration, inspiration seems to originate from a mysterious place. It may be ‘spirits’ one day- the next day, it is mundane. It may be nature, the next day it is suffering. The sea, trees, pain, loss, artists find inspiration in all corners and layers of life.

The Other Side narrates how female artists can easily fill up exhibitions, galleries and museums, if only there was more eagerness to learn about female artists. And that is what Jennifer Higgie does so well. With great sensitivity she explores many female artists, resulting in me -as a reader- looking them up, reading more extensive biographies, and ordering more art books.

I like reading about female artists, a marginalized group of brave artists choosing their paths. There was and still is the risk of being called mental and bewitched. Next to the many artists in The Other Side, think of Camille Claudel who brought shame upon her family by aiming for a career in the arts. Her family admitted her to a mental institution where she was confined till her death. Think of Maria Sibylla Merian, who traveled alone with her daughter to Dutch Guiana to study and paint insects. A woman alone! Studying creepy crawlies…how unbecoming.

Reading The Other Side feels like appreciating the female artists who were under-represented. Recalling them from the past we do by reading about their struggles. They were no less brave than female resistance fighters whose names are forgotten too.

Women were barred from enrolling to art schools for too long. They had to make art without a technical education. You want to be taught about materials, composition, position, techniques, colour-theory, and all that fills up an education in the fine arts. All that fills up years of being an apprentice. Because it is the combination of a thorough training, plus talent, plus inspiration, plus a positive reception by the public, that has your work immortalized in grand museums.

Abstract Art

I am delighted with The Other Side for more reasons than acquainting myself with women’s art. It makes me question my thoughts on abstract art. I have never looked at modern abstract art as a result of meditation or images channeled from the other side. I have read about that whilst studying prehistoric art and I have studied prehistoric beliefs of peoples having contact with ancestral or animal spirit (hence prehistoric rock art). But I wasn’t taught about the Victorian Spiritualist movement which was widespread in the 19th-20th century. It focused on the belief that the living can communicate with the spirits of the deceased. After the horrors and losses of the WWI, not only had this movement a comforting effect, it also affected the art scene.

To be honest, I assumed abstract art was a way to make art without going through the years of having a thorough technical training and aiming for beauty as an intrinsic quality of the artwork. Although I could appreciate the playfulness of -for instance- Kandinsky’s works, but I never knew his female equivalent Agnes Pelton, or Jackson Pollock’s female equivalent Janet Sobel. Obviously, I have still so much to learn and explore.

I saw abstract paintings mostly as a ‘shortcut’. This perspective stems from my traditional education. Art, for me, must meet three criteria: the intentions of the artist (the intent to create art), the quality of the work (it must demonstrate a high level of technical competence, talent, and skill), and finally, the public’s response. The last criterion is tricky and much debated. Why? Because Gustibus non est disputandum. Take, for instance, the Night Watch by Rembrandt, which was initially a rejected commission, only to later become world-famous. Still, the spectator plays a crucial role. Art should interact with the spectator; in isolation, it conveys nothing. Artworks require engagement, even if that interaction begins as negative. Many art movements took time to be taken seriously.

Plethora of sources

Returning to inspiration. It seems to come from a plethora of sources. I have no problem with Inspiration being qualified or categorized as spiritual. Inspiration is an intangible, mysterious thing and it is important. Plus, linking inspiration to spirits or spiritual belief is an old habit. It is prehistoric. It is Ancient Greek: the Nine Muses of the Arts. It is Medieval: medieval artists, artisans, and craftsmen didn’t sign their work, it came from God.

An interesting footnote to this is that for a long time it was assumed that prehistoric women took care of the babies and food making, and the men took up the dangerous tasks. Till this perspective changed within the world of archaeology and anthropology. Looking at remaining hunter-gathering tribes taught the two disciplines that women take as much part in hunting and art-making as men. The tasks are skill based, not sex based. Not long after, painted hand stencils in prehistoric caves were identified as those of made by women. This means women took part in traveling deep into cave systems (not without risking their lives), spiritual-ancestral rituals, and art-making.

Various thesis

It is important to have various theses on why national galleries are filled with male made art and a too small percentage of art made by women. We need many narratives that support creative and spiritual women on their path. Books like The Other Side pay homage to the brave women who entered the male world of art.

I highly recommend The Other Side not only for its original perspective on women’s art history but also for the wealth of short biographies of artistic women. I found Higgie’s book to be both an educational experience and, in essence, an engaging visit to an imaginary but vast Women’s Art Museum. There are hyperbolic descriptions for not being able to put down a book, such as inhaling it or devouring it. All of these resonate with me regarding this delightful book.

Explore this book; you will feel immensely inspired.

Paula Kuitenbrouwer

Artist located at Utrecht, Netherlands.

I hold an MA degree in Philosophy.