Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). <em>Fertility Totem</em>, 1986. Hand-printed collage on paper, frame: 117 3/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/8 in. (298.1 × 68.3 × 6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Foundation, To-Life, Inc., 2008.83. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008.83_PS9.jpg)

Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). Fertility Totem, 1986. Hand-printed collage on paper, frame: 117 3/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/8 in. (298.1 × 68.3 × 6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Foundation, To-Life, Inc., 2008.83. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008.83_PS9.jpg)

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What are Spero’s specific references and how has she rewritten their story?

Spero means to "construct a simultaneity of women through time." She said: "The history of women I envision is neither linear nor sequential. I try...to show that it all has reverberations for us today. And then it makes sense." In “Fertility Totem,” she reproduces image from Prehistoric, Ancient Greek, and Australian Aboriginal traditions including a woman masturbating with dildos as an act of bodily autonomy based on a kylix in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. “Hieratic” includes images of Egyptian goddesses including Nut, one of Spero's favorites. She often used this stamp of Nut with additional breasts, a nod to the she-wolf that raised Romulus and Remus, to emphasize her maternal and powerful role.

Fertility Totem

Nancy Spero

Contemporary Art

ARTIST Nancy Spero, American, 1926–2009

MEDIUM Hand-printed collage on paper

DATES 1986

DIMENSIONS frame: 117 3/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/8 in. (298.1 × 68.3 × 6 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed and titled in graphite lower recto

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2008.83

CREDIT LINE Gift of The Foundation, To-Life, Inc.

EXHIBITIONS

Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). Fertility Totem, 1986. Hand-printed collage on paper, frame: 117 3/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/8 in. (298.1 × 68.3 × 6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Foundation, To-Life, Inc., 2008.83. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008.83_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2008.83_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2018

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

What are Spero’s specific references and how has she rewritten their story?