Bursting Blue 2017

David Michael Hinnebusch created "Bursting Blue," with oil on canvas. It is an image that evokes the fractured perspectives of cubism. Yet we might also consider the way the image creates meaning through its cultural references. The figure's face, with its large eyes and distorted features, recalls Picasso’s engagement with African masks and the primitivism of the early 20th century. The figure is reminiscent of the female form in art history, often presented as an object of desire or ideal of beauty. Hinnebusch seems to comment on these historical tropes. The explicit representation of the female body challenges the viewer to confront issues of gender and representation, and to consider the ways in which art has historically participated in the objectification of women. As historians, we can research the shifting representations of the female form throughout history, to better understand art as a product of its socio-historical moment.