In this video, you will learn about the work of Débora Arango, the first woman in Colombia to paint and exhibit female nudes. To help you study her work, we recommend answering the following questions as you watch the video:
Why do you think the life-drawing practice was controversial for female artists in Colombia at the beginning of the 20th century?
How was Eladio Vélez's approach towards painting, and why did Arango reject it?
What differences did she find in the practice of Pedro Nel Gómez that made Arango change schools?
Why do you think Arango needed to reaffirm that she developed her life-drawing practice at home and not under the tutelage of Pedro Nel?
Why do you think morality was used to reject her work?
Do you think the artworks of women and male artists can be studied and judged similarly if the former lack the same foundations and education?
How should we rethink the history of art produced by women from this perspective?
How did Arango structure the composition of the painting La Amiga (the Female Friend), and why do you think she chose a large format to paint it?
How did Arango observe nature and the naked body, and what was her political position about it?
How did Arango structure the composition of the painting Mountains, which distanced it from previous depictions of female nudes?
How did Arango critically observe the female body?
What critical distance did Arango develop in the picture Schizophrenia in the Asylum?
How do you think Arango observed the importance of enunciating women's pleasure?