Rock and Rose Bed (The Bed You Make is the Bed You Lie In) (1989 - 1996) by Judy DarraghAuckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Over human history, the bed has moved from the public space to the private. From the 77,000 year-old outdoor grass beds at KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to opulent four-posters, this seemingly normal object has a fascinating story.
A bed can be a symbol of confinement and sickness, but, through a history of some remarkable women, can also be recast as an image of liberation. Scroll on to discover more.
Cleopatra, partly naked laying on a bed (ca. 1515–40) by Marcantonio Raimondi|Anonymous|Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cleopatra
The last female pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra is here pictured in bed after taking her own life. Dating from ca.1515-1540, this anonymously created etching shows a snake entwining her arms.
The legend goes that Cleopatra poisoned herself in bed using the venom of an asp rather than relinquishing power. In this sense, she reclaims the bed as a site of autonomy and power for women.
The Sleeping Beauty (1871-1873) by Edward Coley Burne-JonesMuseo de Arte de Ponce
Sleeping Beauty
Conversely, the myth of The Sleeping Beauty, woken by a Prince's unsolicited kiss (painted here in 1871 by British artist Edward Burne-Jones) renders women passive and objectified, a symbol that women's liberation movements fought to dismantle.
Interior in yellow (1962/1964) by Grace COSSINGTON SMITHNational Gallery of Australia
Grace Cossington Smith
One of Australia’s best known 20th century modernist painters, Grace Cossington Smith (b.1892) painted Interior in Yellow. The painting is of the artist’s bedroom, formerly her parents’ and gives an intimate view of her domestic, interior life.
The image is bright and reflective, and communicates the artist's inner self as well as her domestic surroundings. Virtually visit the painting in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Frida Kahlo posing with a sugar skull (1950-1951) by Juan GuzmánFundación Televisa Collection and Archive
Frida Kahlo
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) suffered from polio and nearly died in a childhood accident, leaving her in lifelong pain. Because of this, she often painted from bed. Kahlo is celebrated for depicting experiences unique to women, including her miscarriages.
Frida painting "Naturaleza viva" (Living Nature) in bed, with Diego at her side (1952) by Juan GuzmánMuseo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Kahlo created politically radical art that championed women's rights, and developed an iconic personal style that would go on to inspire many socially minded artists worldwide. All from her bed!
By Paul SchutzerLIFE Photo Collection
Freedom Riders
This photograph of Freedom Riders, taken in Montgomery Baptist Church, was shot by Paul Schutzer for Life Magazine in 1961. Freedom Riders were groups of civil rights activists who took bus trips across the American South in protest of racially segregated bus terminals.
Schutzer chooses to show a family sleeping in an uncomfortable makeshift bed to highlight the Riders' commitment to their cause, and to call attention to the horrors of segregation and racism.
Yoko Ono
Musician and artist Yoko Ono used the bed as political site for two week-long Bed In for Peace protests against the Vietnam War in Amsterdam and Montreal in 1969. Ono and partner John Lennon recorded anti-war anthem Give Peace A Chance during the Montreal protest.
Nan and Brian in Bed, New York City (1983) by Nan GoldinMoMA The Museum of Modern Art
Nan Goldin
Nan and Brian in Bed (1983) part of American photographer Nan Goldin’s seminal work The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, is typical of her intimate photographs taken in the 1980s. Shadowed by drugs, sex and the AIDS crisis, she describes her work as “the diary I let people read.”
Though they're related to the sicknesses and difficult lives of society's neglected communities, Goldin's bed-based photos also celebrate the complex, domestic humanity of her subjects.
