Sinister Beauty: The Femme Fatale in Julio Ruelas’ Work

In this presentation, I will analyze -- from a feminist standpoint - the images of the femme fatale as represented in some works by Julio Ruelas, one of the most important Mexican symbolist painters of the late XIX and early XX centuries. I will direct myself to two questions: What was the historical context that perhaps influenced Ruelas so as to represent the femme fatale in his work? And why did he emphasize the image of a threatening woman?

The main objective is to interpret and contextualize chosen works -- Implacable (1901), Sókrates  (1902) and La esperanza (1902) -- from a non-androcentric perspective in order to rescue the women of the XIX century, those who fought against their social subordination as historical subjects and, therefore, as the reference point for the creation of the femmes fatales of the artist.