Reproduction and Sexuality
Fertility Goddesses
and Gods
Human reproduction is important to all cultures to carry on the family line and
to contribute to the work force.
During the Paleolithic period, goddess were round, bulbous figures with
swollen bellies, breast and thighs. By the Neolithic period, goddess also
became more wedge-shaped, angular and became known as “plank idols”.
Fertility gods had large penises to represent virility of the man and his family line.
Some of these early representations could have been used in rituals and/or
past down from one generation to another maintaining its “mana” (power).
Fertility Goddesses
Venus of Willendorf
Mother of the Fruitful Breast
25,000 – 20,000 BCE
Cypriot fertility goddess
Stone 4 3/8” H
3000-2500 BCE
Paleolithic - Austria
2000 BCE
Babylonian
Fertility Goddesses
Beersheba Venus
4500-3500 BCE
Hippo ivory
Jerusalem
Idol from Amorgos
2500 – 2300 BCE
Marble 30” H
Neolithic - Cycladic Islands
Fertility Goddesses
Venus of Willendorf
25,000 – 20,000 BCE
Idol from Amorgos
Stone 4 3/8” H
2500 – 2300 BCE
Paleolithic - Austria
Marble 30” H
Neolithic - Cycladic Islands
Mother of the Fruitful Breast
2000 BCE
Babylonian
Relief sculpture
Venus of Lassel
France
Paleolithic era
21,000 BCE
bas relief
Sandra Wascher
Secrets
1992 ceramic
50” x 36”
Since art school, I have been fascinated with prehistoric man and his imagery.
It inspired the piece above after a personal event in my life and was therapeutic
in its creation.
Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint a series of frescos on the ceiling and walls in the chapel
(now a conference room) at the Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo.
The frescos are titled “Tierra Fecundada” (Fertile Land). The university specializes in agriculture and forestry.
These frescos are considered some of Rivera’s greatest works.
Diego Rivera
The Virgin Earth
Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo, Chapel
1926-27 Mexico
Diego Rivera
The Fertile Earth
Universidad Automona de
Chapingo, Chapel
1926-27
Fresco mural
The goddess of fertility was inspirational to me
when I was asked to be in a show titled
“Reinventing the Bra”. Who would need a bra,
such as mine (on the right) in the 21st C?
Sandra Wascher
Artemis 2000
1999 Mixed media
Lady of Ephesus
Roman sculpture 81-96 CE
from the Temple of Artemis
550 BCE
Ephesus (in present-day Turkey)
Greek
Fertility Gods
Obelisks usually represented a sun ray, yet I find them to also be a representation of a
male phallic symbol, since these heavy stone pieces had to be “erected”. Man’s desire to reach
towards the skies and its own penis being an important entity of virility, strength and prosperity.
Granite Obelisk, Karnak 1280 BCE
Erected by King Tuthmosis I
Ancestral Poles
1960
New Guinea
Fertility Gods
Priapus
God of Fertility
protector of livestock,
fruit plants, gardens
and male genitalia
Pompeii 1st C CE
Roman fresco
(Greek mythology)
Priapus
God of Fertility
Pompeii
1st C CE
Roman fresco
Fertility Gods
Fertility Gods
Priapus, God of Fertility
Gallo-Roman
3rd C CE
Priapus, God of Fertility
Roman
179-240 CE
marble
62” h
Modern Phallic Symbol
Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy socialite, had this monument erected to honor the fireman in San Francisco.
It rather resembles the end of a fire hose and stands as a phallic symbol of strength. There are also 27
murals by various artists painted on the lobby interior walls. This structure and its murals are an historical
monument and worth visiting.
Arthur Brown, Jr. & Henry Howard
Bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit
Coit Tower
San Francisco
1935
Claes Oldenburg
Modern Phallic Symbols
One of my favorite artists, Claes Oldenburg changes the
scale of everyday items. I started noticing his affinity
with vertical items in more feminine products which
remind me of phallic symbols.
Lipstick (ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks
1969-1974
Cor-Ten steel, steel, aluminum, cast resin;
painted with polyurethane enamel
23’ 6” x 24’ 11” x 10’ 11“
(7.2 x 7.6 x 3.3 m)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Vacuum Cleaner
1967
7’h
Claes Oldenburg
Clothespin 1976
Centre Square Plaza, Philadelphia
45’ x 12’ 3” x 4’ 6”
with Coosje van Bruggen
Plantoir 2001
aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic, steel
23’ h Des Moines, IA
Batcolumn 1979
Steel and aluminum painted with polyurethane enamel
96” 8” high x 9’ 9”dia on top, on base 4’high x 10’ dia
Harold Washington Social Security Center , Chicago
Art Depicting
Primordial and Human Couples
Primordial – first couple or mother/father of humankind
Rooted in creation myths, Adam and Eve are depicted in
Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions.
Imagery of the garden of Eden and their expulsion from it.
What might this metaphoric story represent?
Primordial Couples
Masaccio
The Expulsion from Paradise
Albrecht Dürer
1427
Engraving
1504
Adam and Eve
Renaissance
Michelangelo
Garden of Eden & Expulsion
Sistine Chapel ceiling 1508-1512
Primordial Couples
Fernando Botero
Adam y Eva 1970s
Susan Valadon
Adam and Eve 1909
Human Couples
Jan van Eyck
The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini
and Giovanna Cenami
1434
Fernando Botero
Les Arnolfini 1978
appropriation
Human Couples / Miscegenation
Anton Hickel
Roxelane and the Sultan
Alexandre-Marie Colin
1780
Othello and Desdemona
1829
Human Couples
Egon Schiele
Emil Nolde
Young Couple 1913
German Expressionism
Seated Couple
1915
Expressionism
gouache & pencil
20” x 16”
Primordial & Human Couples
Henry Moore
Family Group
1948-49
bronze
Many modern artists
of the 20th C were influenced
by African art,
such as Henry Morore
and Pablo Picasso.
Ancestral Couple
Yoruba people, Ikere, Nigeria
Olowe of Ise-Palace Sculpture
Henry Moore
1910-1914
King and Queen
1953 bronze
Primordial & Human Couples
Pablo Picasso
Female Form
1949
bronze
Dogon people
Ancestral Couple
Mali, Africa
28 ¼”
Pablo Picasso
Young Man
1956 bronze
Human Couples
Beatrice Wood
Neo-Realism
He Could Not Wait
Point of No Return
1984 ceramic
1957
21 ¾” x 12” x 7”
ceramic
Beatrice Wood
Good Morning America
1988
Ceramic
23” x 17”
Neo-Realism
Additive Sculpture
Constructing
Sandra Wascher
Second Thoughts
2001
Steel & mixed media
36” x 60” x 28”