Bernstein, one of the pioneers of Feminist Art in the early 1970s, was a founding member of the women’s art cooperative A.I.R. Gallery, where this work made its important debut in her first exhibition there in autumn 1973. Bernstein’s early works, such as this one, drawn on large horizontal or vertical scrolls of paper, depict enormous screws that bear no uncertain resemblance to male genitalia. She intended them to be overpowering in their massive scale and use of deep-black medium and explicit in their critique of male patriarchy and its hegemonic power. Horizontal’s infamy grew further after it was removed from a 1974 exhibition in Philadelphia, despite the resounding protest against its censorship from a wide group of prominent artists and critics of the day.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Inscription: Signed (lower left, in charcoal): Judith Bernstein
the artist, New York (1973–2023; sold through Kasmin Gallery, New York to MMA)
New York. A.I.R. Gallery. "Judith Bernstein," October 20–November 7, 1973, no catalogue.
Paris. Galerie Gerald Piltzer. "5 Américains à Paris," February 5–March 4, 1975, no catalogue.
New York. MoMA PS1. "Overview: An Exhibition in Two Parts by the A.I.R. Gallery," March 5–April 9, 1978, unnumbered cat.
New York. Mitchell Algus Gallery. "Judith Bernstein: Signature and Phallic Drawings, 1966–2008," January 10–February 9, 2008, no catalogue.
Los Angeles. The Box. "Judith Bernstein," May 19–June 13, 2009, no catalogue.
Zurich. Hauser & Wirth. "The Historical Box," November 19, 2011–January 21, 2012, no catalogue.
London. Hauser & Wirth. "The Historical Box," May 23–July 28, 2012, no catalogue.
New York. New Museum. "Judith Bernstein: HARD," October 10, 2012–January 20, 2013, unnumbered cat. (lent courtesy the artist and The Box, Los Angeles).
Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe. "Judith Bernstein: Philadelphia Civic Center." Artforum 12 (Summer 1974), pp. 66–67, ill.
Cindy Nemser. "Focusing on Focus." Feminist Art Journal 3 (Spring 1974), p. 22, ill.
Grace Glueck. "In Philadelphia, Sisterly Love." New York Times (May 26, 1974), p. D17.
Steve Twomey. "'Objectionable' Work Banned From Civic Center." Philadelphia Inquirer (March 22, 1974), p. C1.
Jonathan Takiff. "Is It Art, Or Is It Pornography?" Philadelphia Daily News (March 22, 1974), p. 18, ill.
Nessa Forman. "Good-bye to the Femme Fatale." Art News 73 (Summer 1974), p. 66.
Corinne Robins. A.I.R. Gallery: Overview 1972–1977, An Exhibition in Two Parts. Exh. cat., A.I.R. Gallery. New York, 1978, ill. n.p.
Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art & Politics 6, no. 4 (1989), ill. p. 48.
Gail Levin. "Censorship, Politics and Sexual Imagery in the Work of Jewish-American Feminist Artists." Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues no. 14 (Fall 2007), pp. 77–78, fig. 7.
Richard Meyer inWACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution 1965–1980. Ed. Lisa Gabrielle Mark. Exh. cat., Museum of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles, 2007, pp. 367–68, ill.
Robert Berlind. "Sticking It." Art in America 96 (June/July 2008), pp. 185, 215, ill. p. 184 (color, installation photo, Exh. New York 2008).
Walter Robinson. "Weekend Update." artnet.com/magazineus. January 15, 2008, ill. (color, installation photo, Exh. New York 2008).
Holland Cotter. "Judith Bernstein." New York Times (February 1, 2008), p. E35.
Rachel Middleman. "A New Eros: Sexuality in Women's Art Before the Feminist Art Movement." PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2010, pp. 277–79, figs. 5.10 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1973), 5.11.
Sherman Sam. "Picks: 'The Historical Box'." artforum.com. July 3, 2012, ill. (color, installation photo, Exh. London 2012).
Ken Johnson. "Once Banished, Never Silenced." New York Times (December 21, 2012), p. C30.
Margot Norton with Judith Bernstein. Judith Bernstein: HARD. Exh. cat., New Museum. New York, 2012, unpaginated, ill. (color, reproduction of petition against the censorship of this work from the exhibition "Focus: Women's Work—American Art, 1974" at the Philadelphia Civic Center).
Thomas Micchelli. "Big, Bigger, Biggest: Judith Bernstein Breaks Through." hyperallergic.com. December 15, 2012, ill. (color, installation photo, Exh. New York 2012–13).
Ann McCoy. "ArtSeen. Judith Bernstein Hard." brooklynrail.org. February 2013.
Thomas Micchelli inJudith Bernstein Rising. Exh. cat., Kunsthall Stavanger. Stavanger, Norway, 2016, pp. 26–27, 29–30, ill. (reproduction of petition against the censorship of this work from the exhibition "Focus: Women's Work—American Art, 1974" at the Philadelphia Civic Center) and ill. pp. 70–71 (color, overall), 93 (color, installation photo, Exh. New York 2012–13).
Heather Jones. Dicks of Death: Judith Bernstein. [Zürich], [2016], unpaginated, figs. 90, B, N, O, P, XXII (color, overall, installation photos) and ill. n.p. (color, front and back cover).
Johanna Fateman inJudith Bernstein Rising. Exh. cat., Kunsthall Stavanger. Stavanger, Norway, 2016, pp. 19–20.
Jonathan Thomas and Judith Bernstein. "Judith Bernstein." Third Rail no. 9 (2016), pp. 20–21, ill. (color, reproduction of petition against the censorship of this work from the exhibition "Focus: Women's Work—American Art, 1974" at the Philadelphia Civic Center).
Thomas Micchelli inJudith Bernstein: Cabinet of Horrors. Exh. cat., Drawing Center. New York, 2017, pp. 19, 89, fig. 5 (color).
John Marin (American, Rutherford, New Jersey 1870–1953 Cape Split, Maine)
ca. 1912
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
