Table of contents
About UsVision and Approach
Our Team
For Educators
For Researchers
For Professionals
Site Notes and FAQs
Contact Us
Partner With Us
Donate to The Art Story
The Art Story is hiring!
Course Syllabus: Proto-Feminism and Early Female Artists
Week 1 - Intro and Four Pioneering Female Artists of the Renaissance
Tuesday
What is Feminist Art and How Has it Informed Protofeminism?
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Lead a whole-group formal introduction to the Renaissance and discuss how artists received their training, what professional support systems were in place and who served as patrons.
- Break students into 4 groups, to have each focus on the exploration of characteristic geographical, religious, social, political and financial circumstances that were characteristic for Italy and Northern Europe during the Renaissance. Have students engage in an open discussion on their findings.
Questions and Takeaways
- How can you define the term Proto-Feminism in your own words?
- What was life like for women during the Renaissance period?
- What were the struggles and restrictions that female artists had to overcome?
- Was there any kind of support system that women could rely on?
- Why does it matter to revisit art history and discuss female artists of past periods?
Additional Resources
Thursday
Four Leading Female Artists of the Renaissance
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Break students into four groups and have them explore the life and work of four leading female Renaissance artists: Properzia de' Rossi (Italy: c. 1490-1530), Caterina van Hemessen (The Netherlands, 1528–after 1565); Sofonisba Anguissola (Italy, 1532–1625); Lavinia Fontana (Italy: 1552–1614).
- Have each group present their findings, fleshing out details as needed. Keep these questions in mind: How were they able to support themselves? and How do they fit into our understanding of Proto-Feminism?
- Lead an open discussion and analysis of one artwork by each artist, encouraging students to formulate and elaborate on their observations, addressing subject matter, palette, handling of materials, atmosphere, emotional expression and symbolism.
- Has the information gathered this week changed your concept of the Renaissance and if so, how?
Questions and Takeaways
- What made the female artists unique in their time?
- What were their preferred subjects and why?
- Did they have something in common?
- How can one contextualize their work with examples by other great masters of the period?
Week 2 - Gaining Visibility: Leading Female Painters of the Baroque Period
Tuesday
What kind of New Opportunities did the Baroque Period Offer to Artists?
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- In the classroom, compile a list of differences between the Renaissance and Baroque era, as well as a list of landmark achievements.
- With the entire class, work on a comparison of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (1495-98) and Jacopo Tintoretto’s Last Supper (1592-94)
- With the entire class, compare Andrea Mantegna’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1495-1500 and Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614-18).
Questions and Takeaways
- How did the Baroque differ from the Renaissance?
- What are some of the characteristics you have discovered in artworks of the Baroque?
Thursday
Five Leading Female Artists of the Baroque
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Break students into five groups and have them explore the life and work of five leading female Baroque artists: Artemisia Gentileschi (Italy, 1593–after 1654), Louise Moillon (France, 1610–96), Josefa de Óbidos (also known as Josefa de Ayala) (Portugal, 1630–84), Elisabetta Sirani (Italy, 1638–65), and Luisa Ignacia Roldán (also known as La Roldana) (Spain, 1652–1706)
- Together, have the class make a chart of similarities and differences between them, thinking about social background, art education, professional opportunities and support systems.
- Have students pick the two female artists they deem most accomplished and have them argue as to why.
Questions and Takeaways
- Is there a career pattern that one can trace when studying the successful female artists of the Baroque?
- Who could they rely on for professional support? How did they manage to have a career?
- Have you made discoveries that apply to the reality of contemporary female artists as well?
Additional Resources
- Artemisia Gentileschi in Eight Paintings – The National Gallery
- Artemisia Gentileschi: The Fortunes of a Female Painter in Baroque Italy - Jesse Locker, Portland Art Museum
- Letizia Treves on Artemisia Gentileschi - The Great Women Artists
- Elisabetta Sirani - East Tennessee State University
- Luisa Ignacia Roldán - Dr. Cathy Hall-van den Elsen for Hispanic Society Museum & Library
- Luisa Ignacia Roldán - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Week 3 - Female Painters of the Dutch Golden Age
Tuesday
What Defined the Dutch Golden Age?
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Lead a whole group formal introduction to the Dutch Golden Age. Together, develop a list of characteristic social, geo-political and economic circumstances that informed the period.
- Along with the entire class make a list of the most famous artists and artworks that are associated with this period. How did female artists fit into this picture and what opportunities did they have at the time?
- Discuss with the entire class why the term “Dutch Golden Age” is being re-evaluated today.
Questions and Takeaways
- What circumstances and developments enabled the Dutch Golden Age?
- Who are the artists traditionally associated with this period?
- What were the genres artists pursued during this period?
Additional Resources
Thursday
Four Leading Female Artists of the Dutch Golden Age
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the lives and work of Clara Peeters (1587–after 1636), Judith Leyster (1609–60), Maria van Oosterwyck (1630–93), Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750), presenting a series of visual examples.
- Break students into two groups. Have Group A work on a presentation of Judith Leyster’s Self-Portrait (c.1630), which belongs to the permanent collection of The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Have Group B work on a presentation of Maria van Oosterwijk’s Vanitas (1668), which belongs to the Kunsthistorische Museum, Vienna. Keep the following questions in mind: How did the artists present their subject matter? Does anything strike you as unusual? Are there certain adjectives that you would apply?
- Then as a group, discuss Leyster’s painting in relation to The Lute Player (1623-24) by Frans Hals at the Musée du Louvre, Paris and Anthony Van Dyck’s Isabella Brant (1621) at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Questions and Takeaways
- What struck you most in exploring the work of Leyster and van Oosterwijk?
- How did the characteristics of this period impact the artists’ use of subject matter?
- What use of symbolism can you trace?
Additional Resources
- The Dutch Golden Age’s Female Painters featured at the National Museum of Women in the Arts – Smithsonian Magazine
- Review of the Exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts – Art Herstory
- Showcase: Clara Peeters and Gender Equality – TRT World Newscast
- The Dutch Golden Age - The Frick Collection
- Rediscovering Judith Leyster – Philadelphia Museum of Art
Week 4 - Women Painting during the Age of Revolution
Tuesday
What were the circumstances that led to the French Revolution?
How did it impact life in Europe and ring in a New Era?
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Give a lecture to the entire class, discussing the circumstances that led to the French Revolution and how the spirit of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité [Liberty, Equality, Fraternity] sparked the beginning of the era of enlightenment.
- With the entire class compare The Swing (c. 1767) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799) by Jacques Louis-David (1748-1825), and 28 July: Liberty Leading the People (1830) by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), addressing how their content serves as an illustration of the times and how stylistic choices communicated the stance of the artists.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did the French Revolution inform a new era?
- How did this new era impact the arts in France?
- Do you think that the French Revolution empowered female artists and if so, how?
Thursday
Four Female Artists During the Age of Revolution
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the work and lives of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803), Marie-Denise Villers (1774-1821), Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), and Marie-Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818). Highlight how their careers were impacted by the politics of their time and whether they became political themselves. For example, besides being a well-regarded miniaturist and portrait painter, Labille-Guiard was an advocate for women to receive the same opportunities as men to become accomplished painters. She was one of the first women to become a member of the Royal Academy and the first female artist to receive permission to set up a studio for her students at the Louvre.
- Then, as a group analyze these three self-portraits: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond (1785, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), Marie-Gabrielle Capet’s Self-Portrait (c. 1783, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo), and Self-Portrait by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1790, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). How did the women portray themselves? Do you detect a new sense of confidence?
- Together, compare these works with Marie Antoinette Gathering the Brushes of Madame Vigée Le Brun (c. 1859, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) by Alexis-Joseph Pérignon (1806–1882), created a few decades later. Would you say that there is a different quality in this depiction of a female painter and her most powerful patron? If so, try to put it into words.
Questions and Takeaways
- How would you characterize the work of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Marie-Denise Villers, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, and Marie-Gabrielle Capet? Are there certain adjectives that seem to apply to all of their oeuvres?
- Would you consider aspects of their life and work political and if so, in what way?
Additional Resources
Week 5 - Female Artists of Impressionism: Renditions of “Ordinary” Life
Tuesday
How did the Industrial Age Inform the Birth of Impressionism?
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Give an introduction to the entire class of how the Industrial Age informed 19th Century life and consequently art. Together with the class assemble a list of notable changes compared to past periods previously discussed, focusing especially on socio-economic shifts and how these impacted patronage, art education and exhibition opportunities.
- With the entire class make a list of subjects that Impressionist artists focused on most frequently and address how stylistic choices defined a movement.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did new developments in the 19th Century inspire artists to go beyond traditional genre painting?
- What did Impressionist artists have in common?
- What kind of non-Western influences impacted their work?
Thursday
Five Leading Female Impressionists
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Divide the class into five groups and assign to each the exploration of the life and work of either Marie Bracquemond (1840-1916), Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883), or Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938).
- Have each group pick one work by the artist that is part of a permanent museum collection and which they deem particularly characteristic for the artist in terms of style and subject matter. For sources consider for example: Berthe Morisot at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Eva Gonzalès at the Dallas Museum of Art, Marie Bracquemond at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris; Mary Cassatt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Suzanne Valadon at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC.
- Subsequently, have each group present their choice and reasoning behind it.
- Then, with the entire class, discuss the detectable similarities and differences in these works.
Questions and Takeaways
- What were the predominant themes in the works analyzed?
- How did the subjects of these five 19th Century artists differ from those explored by artists of preceding periods?
- Would you say that the increasing independence of women was reflected in these works and if so, how?
Additional Resources
- Through the Eyes of the Artist: Suzanne Valadon - Hudson Library & Historical Society
- The Women of Impressionism – Tessa Salomon, ARTnews
- Opening Lecture for Women Artists in Paris - Clark Art Institute
- Mary Cassatt, The Coiffure - SmartHistory
- Women Collectors of Impressionism - The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Women Artists in 19th Century France – The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Week 6 - Women of a New Age in Search of Abstraction
Tuesday
The Emergence of Abstract Art in the 20th Century
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide students with an overview of how abstract art developed during the early years of the 20th Century, touching on important movements, such as Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, Constructivism, and De Stijl, addressing the work of Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and František Kupka, for example.
- As a group discuss and compare František Kupka’s Amorpha: Fugue in Two Colors (1912); Robert Delaunay’s The Three Windows, the Tower and the Wheel (1912); Piet Mondrian’s Composition in Brown and Gray (1913), and Wassily Kandinsky’s Light Picture (1913).
Questions and Takeaways
- What inspired artists to veer off realism and search for a new, abstract visual language?
- What kind of vocabulary can be used to analyze abstract art?
Thursday
Pioneering Female Abstractionists
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to five artists, who completely independent from each other and while living in differing parts in the world, felt inspired to search for a new abstract visual vocabulary: Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), Agnes Pelton (1881–1961), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), Lyubov Popova (1889-1924), and Alma Thomas (1891-1978).
- Divide the class into five groups and have each pick one of the artists in question. Have each group work on a presentation of their subject, arguing why she should be considered a pioneer of abstract art and how her oeuvre fits in relation to the much better-known male painters discussed on Tuesday.
Questions and Takeaways
- How does the work of af Klint, Pelton, O’Keeffe, Popova and Thomas compare to some of the male pioneers of abstract art discussed on Tuesday?
- Do you think the history of abstract art should be rewritten?
Additional Resources
- Hilma af Klint – Hilma af Klint Foundation
- Hilma af Klint: A Painter Possessed – Kate Kellaway, The Guardian
- Hilma af Klint - The Art Story
- Georgia O’Keeffe - The Art Story
- Channeled Visions: Women, Esotericism and Modern Art -Phoenix Art Museum
- Russian Avant-Garde with MoMA curator Roxana Marcoci - The Museum of Modern Art
- An Evening Celebration of Alma Thomas - National Gallery of Art
Week 7 - Documenting the Worst: Female Artists of the War Generation
Tuesday
Käthe Kollwitz and Hannah Ryggen: Depicting the Devastation of War
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the work of Käthe Kollwitz and Hannah Ryggen, addressing how their lives were impacted by World War I and World War II, as well as their political stance.
- Divide the class into two groups and have each focus on two major achievements within the artists’ oeuvres: Käthe Kollwitz’s landmark print portfolio War (1922-1923) and Hannah Ryggen’s October 6, 1942 (1943).
- Have each group present the works in question, after they specifically explored subject matter and composition.
- With the entire class, discuss how Kollwitz’s and Ryggen’s choice of materials (woodblock print and weaving) influenced these works and helped to shape a visual language that conveyed their messages most poignantly.
Questions and Takeaways
- What were the predominant themes in Käthe Kollwitz's work and how would you describe her visual language?
- What are the main characteristics in the work of Hannah Ryggen? Do her compositions convey a particular rhythm?
- How do the works of these two artists relate?
Thursday
Between Life and Death: Painting in Times of the Holocaust
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Present the class with some background information on the German Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, whose life’s work Life? or Theatre? is part autobiography, part musical composition and part dramatic script. Created during World War II before Salomon was killed in a concentration camp, the ~1700 drawings and drawn letters document the artist’s personal story and the looming threats she faced as a Jewish refugee in Southern France.
- Divide the class into four groups and have them explore Salomon’s Life? or Theatre?, which consists of drawings and accompanying texts.
- Have each group pick two images and share with the class what they found particularly interesting or moving about them.
- Together, explore the question of how a highly personal body of work, like Salomon’s Life? or Theatre? can continue to educate people on the travesties of war decades later.
- Provide the class with background information on Doris Zinkeisen, who after working as a well-known British society painter, joined the St. John Ambulance Brigade during World War II.
- Together with the class view Zinkeisen’s depiction of Bergen-Belsen, which she visited in April 1945, just after its liberation.
- Discuss why Zinkeisen’s depictions of the concentration camp, which count among the earliest visual records of the site, add to any photographic documentation. Explore the question whether war painting remains a necessary genre and if so, why?
Questions and Takeaways
- How would you discuss the work of Charlotte Salomon and Doris Zinkeisen (during World War II), two very different artists?
- Do you think it is important to paint war rather than to solely document it through film and photography? If so, why?
Additional Resources
- Rowing Side by Side: Women War Artists in Britain and America during the Second World War – Yale University
- Women of the Wars: Five Female Artists Who Depicted Women's Contributions - Art UK
- 6 Stunning First World War Artworks By Women War Artists - Imperial War Museum
- One Hundred Years of the Great War through the Eyes of Four Female Artists - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Week 8 - Women of European Modernism
Tuesday
Female Pioneers of Dada and the Bauhaus
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the Dada and Bauhaus movements, discussing how they reflect a critical reaction to World War I. Though very different visually and conceptually, both movements can be understood as a rejection of wartime politics, bourgeois culture, and a capitalist economic system.
- Divide class in four groups and assign one of these artists to each for in-depth exploration: Hannah Höch (1889–1978), Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943), Anni Albers (1899-1994), Gunta Stölzl (1897-1983).
- Have each group pick a characteristic work by the artist in question and present it to the class, discussing why it is considered particularly noteworthy within the artist’s oeuvre and how it reflects the aesthetics of the movement.
- Together, discuss why the artists’ use of collage and photomontage (Höch) and craft (Taeuber-Arp, Albers, Stölz) was considered progressive if not radical at the time?
Questions and Takeaways
- How did the social and political climate of the years following World War I inform the work of the artists discussed?
- What made their work particularly innovative and influential?
Additional Resources
- Dada – The Art Story
- Hannah Höch: One of the Originators of Photomontage -HerArt Podcast
- Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction - The Museum of Modern Art
- In Thread and On Paper: Anni Albers in Connecticut - New Britain Museum of American Art
- Bauhaus: Art as Life - Gunta Stölzl: A Daughter's Perspective - Barbican Centre
- Claude Cahun - The Art Story
Thursday
Three Female Artists of German Expressionism
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide the class with an introduction to German Expressionism, addressing the following groups within the movement: Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), of which Gabriele Münter was a co-founder. Also address the art colony in Worpswede, which served as a precursor to German Expressionist ideas and marks the context of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s (1876-1907) early career. In addition, add some biographical information on the three female artists to be discussed today.
- Divide the class into three groups and have each analyze one of the following: Self-Portrait with Two Flowers in Her Raised Left Hand by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1907), Bildnis Frau von Hartmann (Portrait of Mrs. [Olga] von Hartmann) by Gabriele Münter (1910), and Windblown by Marianne Werefkin (1910), paying particular attention to how the artists depicted their subject matter in regard to form and color. What strikes you as new and unprecedented in comparison to the artists discussed in previous weeks? How does their use of color show a new intent?
- Like the works of their fellow Expressionists, the paintings of Paula Modersohn-Becker and Gabriele Münter were considered Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) by the Nazi Regime. As a group watch "Degenerate Art" in Nazi Germany and discuss why their works were labeled as such.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter and Marianne von Werefkin help to re-define painting?
- Why do you think did it take so long for them to receive the recognition they deserve?
Additional Resources
- Gabriele Münter. Pioneer of Modern Art -Zentrum Paul Klee
- Diane Radycki on Paula Modersohn Becker - The Great Women Artists Podcast
- German Expressionist Art 1905-1937 - The San Diego Museum of Art
- “Degenerate Art” The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany - Stephanie Barron, Los Angeles County Museum).
Week 9 - Women of Surrealism: Visions of the Fantastical
Tuesday
European Positions: Leonor Fini, Jacqueline Lamba, Meret Oppenheim, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Unica Zürn
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to Surrealism, discussing its origins in post-World War I Paris. Address the movement’s close ties to the teachings of 19th Century neurologists [ranging from Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-93) and Joseph Babinski (1857-1932) to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)] and its ambition to fuse images culled from reality and dreams to form a sort of super-reality (best formulated by André Breton).
- Together with the class, make a list of some of the leading male protagonists of the movement (Breton, Hans Bellmer, Salvador Dali Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, for example), key theories, and characteristic techniques (such as automatism).
- Divide the class into six groups and assign each one of these six female artists: Leonor Fini (1907-1996), Jacqueline Lamba (1910–1993), Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985), Kay Sage (1898-1963), Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012), and Unica Zürn (1916-1970).
- Have each group work on a concise, 10-minute overview of their subject with the idea to formally present their findings to the class. Each talk should include at least two artworks of note by the artist in question.
- Together, discuss similarities in approach, subject matter, as well as stark differences.
Questions and Takeaways
- The female body served as key inspiration to countless artworks attributed to the Surrealist movement. How did female artists depict themselves or the female body in their work? Are there differences to be detected?
Additional Resources
- Dada and Surrealism - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire - Lissa Rivera for Art Students League, NY
- Surreal Sparks: The Legacy of Meret Oppenheim - Tretyakov Gallery Magazine
- Meret Oppenheim - The Art Story
- Kay Sage: The Mesmerizing and Tragic Life of a Brilliant Artist - The Collector
- Dorothea Tanning – Tate
- A Stone for Unica Zürn - Gary Indiana, ArtNews
Thursday
North American Positions: Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Alice Rahon, Remedios Varo
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Give an introduction on how Surrealism developed in North America, be it as an independent position (example: Frida Kahlo) or as a result of European Surrealists seeking exile in North America (example: Alice Rahon). In this context, briefly discuss the biographies of Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), Alice Rahon (1904–1987), and Remedios Varo (1908 –1963).
- Divide the class into four groups and have each examine one of the following four works: Leonora Carrington’s And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur (1953), Frida Kahlo’s My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree) (1936), Alice Rahon’s La Cañada (The Glen) (c. 1946), and Remedios Varo's Tailleur pour Dames (Tailor for ladies) (1957).
- Have students give a 15-minute presentation of their discoveries, having paid attention to subject matter and composition, but also the artists’ social connections. Do you detect references to other artists’ oeuvres?
Questions and Takeaways
- Even though each oeuvre marks a unique position, one might detect particular affinities in approach and subject matter. If you would have to curate three different group exhibitions, featuring some of the ten artists discussed this week, what themes would you choose?
Additional Resources
- Surrealism Beyond Borders - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- How Leonora Carrington Feminized Surrealism -The New Yorker
- Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life - Hayden Herrera for The University of Texas at Austin
- Museo Frida Kahlo Virtual Tour – Museo Frida Kahlo
- Uncovering Alice Rahon: A Conversation about the Artist's First Monograph - Gallery Wendi Norris
- Remedios Varo’s Mystical, Surreal Paintings Continue to Captivate - ArtNews
- Louise Bourgeois - The Art Story
- Luchita Hurtado - The Art Story
Week 10 - Female Pioneers of British and American Modernism
Tuesday
New York: Florine Stettheimer (1871–1944), Katherine Sophie Dreier (1877-1952), Paule Vézelay (1892–1984), Jessica Dismorr (1885–1939), and Helen Saunders (1885–1963)
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Divide the class into five groups and assign to each one of the five artists to be discussed today: Florine Stettheimer (1871–1944), Katherine Sophie Dreier (1877-1952), Paule Vézelay (1892–1984), Jessica Dismorr (1885–1939), and Helen Saunders (1885–1963). Have them work on a 15-minute presentation of their subject, considering biographical details, influences, as well as connections to other artists and movements that were previously discussed.
- At the end of each presentation, which should include at least two images of works by the artist, have each group propose a two-women show, including their subject, as well as one of the many other female artists previously explored. Have them explain their thought process.
- At the end of the session have all students vote on which of the conceptualized two-women exhibitions would seem most interesting.
Questions and Takeaways
- With the onset of Modernism, the number of professionally recognized female artists begins to increase, reflected in the many fascinating and unique positions that can be found in various places, including in Great Britain and North America. In addition, the intellectual exchange between European and American artists becomes more vivid, allowing for radical new ideas to unfold quickly and among a wider audience. Would you employ the term “modernism” to describe a particular period in time or a mindset?
Additional Resources
- How Florine Stettheimer Captured the Luxury and Ecstasy of New York - The New Yorker
- Art History Today | Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) - Art Basel
- This Is How We Do It: Florine Stettheimer - Jewish Museum, New York
- Chaos and Classicism: The New Woman - Atina Grossmann for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Thursday
Four Female Artists of the Harlem Renaissance: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Augusta Savage, Selma Hortense Burke, Lois Mailou Jones
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide the class with an introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, its origins and impact on music, literature, and art at the time. Address the lives of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960), Augusta Savage (1892-1962), Selma Hortense Burke (1900-95), and Loïs Mailou Jones (1905-98), while offering several visual examples of their work.
- Together with the class compare and discuss these three sculptures: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s Silence (1920s), Augusta Savage's Gamin (c. 1929), and Selma Hortense Burke's Bust of Mary McLeod Bethune (n.d.).
- Have each student write 4 ways that Loïs Mailou Jones’s The Ascent of Ethiopia (1932) captured the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance.
Questions and Takeaways
- What were the circumstances leading to the Harlem Renaissance?
- How did the creative and intellectual climate in Harlem between the 1910s and 1930 impact the four female artists discussed today?
Additional Resources
- Nancy Elizabeth Prophet - Mapping Arts Project
- Nancy Elizabeth Prophet - Rhode Island College
- Augusta Savage: A Woman of Her Word -National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Augusta Savage: The Extraordinary Story of the Trailblazing Artist – The Guardian
- Loïs Mailou Jones and David C. Driskell: Intersecting Legacies - The Phillips Collection
- From Here and From There: Exploring Elizabeth Catlett’s African American and Mexican Duality - National Museum of African American History & Culture
Week 11 - The Radical Portrait
Tuesday
Depictions of Others: Broncia Koller-Pinell, Vanessa Bell, and Alice Neel
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Together with the entire class work on a summary of some of the great portraitists discussed in previous weeks. Which of the many artists and perhaps which portraits have stayed with them and why?
- Provide an introduction to the lives and work of Broncia Koller-Pinell (1863–1934), Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), and Alice Neel (1900-1984), all of whom are recognized today as master portraitists.
- Then divide the class into three groups and have each work on a 15 minute presentation of Broncia Koller-Pinell's Sitting (Seated Nude Marietta) (1907), Vanessa Bell’s Mrs St John Hutchinson (1915), and Alice Neel’s Bessie Boris (1940).
Questions and Takeaways
- How do the portraits of Broncia Koller-Pinell, Vanessa Bell, and Alice Neel compare to the works of Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt or Sofonisba Anguissola, for example?
- Do you detect a new quality in their works when compared to portraits made by artists of previous generations? If so, try to explain.
Additional Resources
- Broncia Koller-Pinell; A Forgotten Fame – Katharina Cichosch for Schirn Kunsthalle Magazine
- Design and Desires: How Vanessa Bell Put the Bloom in Bloomsbury – Lauren Elkin for The Guardian
- Alice Neel and Spanish Harlem or El Barrio – The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Helen Molesworth on Alice Neel - The Great Women Artists
Thursday
Depictions of Self: Helene Schjerfbeck, Tamara de Lempicka, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler, Amrita Sher-Gil
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide the class with an introduction to the lives and work of Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980), Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (1899-1940), Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), all of whom have gathered increased attention in the past two decades. Discuss how their personal circumstances, as well as their focus on realism and portraiture had led to a lack of a broader recognition.
- Present the following four self-portraits to the class and together, discuss them in terms of composition, stylistic choices and psychological impact: Helene Schjerfbeck’s Self-Portrait, Black Background (1915), Tamara de Lempicka’s Self-Portrait in a Green Bugatti (1929), Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’s, The Cigarette Break (Self-Portrait) (1931), Amrita Sher-Gil’s Self-Portrait as a Tahitian (1934).
- Have each student make 3-4 points on which self-portrait strikes them as most powerful and why.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did the artists presented today portray themselves? What adjectives would you use?
Additional Resources
- Review/Art; A Neglected Finnish Modernist Is Rediscovered - Roberta Smith for The New York Times
- Tamara de Lempicka: The Lady in the Green Bugatti - More Than a Muse
- Self-Portrait in a Green Bugatti - The Canvas
- Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler: Frank Chronicler on the Fringes of Society - Lost Women Art
- Splendor and Misery in the Weimar Republic -Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Week 12 - Women of Abstract Expressionism
Tuesday
The First Generation of Female Abstract Expressionists: Perle Fine, Lee Krasner, Hedda Sterne, and Elaine de Kooning
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Give an introduction to Abstract Expressionism, discussing its roots in Surrealism and some of the leading male protagonists of the movement’s first generation, in particular Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In addition, address the writings of Clement Greenberg, Harold Rosenberg, and Frank O’Hara.
- Divide the class into three groups and assign each one of the following four female painters associated with the beginnings of the movement: Perle Fine (1905–1988), Lee Krasner (1908-1984), Hedda Sterne (1910-2011), and Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989). Have each group explore their subject’s biography, professional achievements, and lasting impact. In addition, have them pay special attention to these paintings: Polyphonic (1945) by Perle Fine; Gaea (1966) by Lee Krasner; New York, N.Y. (1955) by Hedda Sterne; and Juarez (1958) by Elaine de Kooning.
- Have each group give a 15-minute presentation on their subject, including a discussion of the assigned works, reflecting on how they can be understood as characteristic examples of the artists’ oeuvres.
Questions and Takeaways
- How do the works of Perle Fine, Lee Krasner, Hedda Sterne, and Elaine de Kooning add to our understanding of Abstract Expressionism?
- Why did it take so long for their achievements to be recognized?
Additional Resources
- Perle Fine: Out of Exile - Art Students League of New York
- Lee Krasner: A Life - Gail Levin for Brooklyn Museum
- Lee Krasner: Making Art, Making Trouble, and Making Do in the 1930s - The Courtauld
- About Hedda Sterne – The Hedda Sterne Foundation
- Elaine de Kooning – National Museum of Women in the Arts
- A Generous Vision: The Creative Life of Elaine de Kooning -Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
Thursday
The Second Generation of Female Abstract Expressionists: Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an overview of the lives and work of Grace Hartigan (1922-2008), Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), and Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011).
- Divide the class into three groups and have each analyze one of the following artworks: Rose Cottage by Joan Mitchell (1953, Private Collection), Western Dream by Helen Frankenthaler (1957, Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), and Shinnecock Canal by Grace Hartigan (1957, Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York).
- Have each group prepare a presentation of the artwork in question while contextualizing it with two works by any of the artists discussed in past weeks.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did the works of the second generation of female Abstract Expressionists differ from the first?
- Though each of the three oeuvres explored today marks a unique position, all of them share certain characteristics and underlying intentions. How would you describe these?
Additional Resources
- Women of Abstract Expressionism Lounge – Denver Art Museum
- Grace Hartigan: At the Avant Garde - Southampton History Museum
- About Joan Mitchell – Joan Mitchell Foundation
- About Helen Frankenthaler – Helen Frankenthaler Foundation
- Ninth Street Women: Mary Gabriel in conversation with Deborah Solomon - Whitney Museum of American Art
- Frankenthaler and the Women of Abstract Expressionism -Honolulu Museum of Art
Week 13 - Shifting the Conversation: From Proto-Feminsim to Feminism
Tuesday
The Sculptures of Louise Nevelson, Lenore Tawney, Louise Bourgeois, Marisol Escobar, and Eva Hesse
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the works of Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), Lenore Tawney (1907-2007), Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), Marisol Escobar (1930-2016), and Eva Hesse (1936-1970), discussing the artists’ innovative use of materials and unique paths.
- Divide the class into five groups and have each work on a proposal for an exhibition that would feature two of the five artists discussed today.
- Have each group present their concept and explain their reasoning behind it. Have them provide at least four visual examples of works that can be found in public collections worldwide, including at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the National Gallery, Washington DC and Tate Britain.
Questions and Takeaways
- Do you see similarities in the way these five sculptors approached their materials?
- If you were to feature all five of them in one group show, what would the title of your choice be?
Additional Resources
Thursday
Using the Body - Female Pioneers of Video and Performance Art: Yoko Ono, Joan Jonas, Carolee Schneemann, Judy Chicago, Suzanne Lacy, Ulrike Rosenbach, Ana Mendieta, Adrian Piper
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide the class with an introduction to Performance Art and Video Art.
- Divide the class into three groups and assign each one of the pairings for further exploration:
1) Yoko Ono (1933) and Joan Jonas (b. 1936);
2) Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019) and Ulrike Rosenbach (b. 1943)
3) Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) and Adrian Piper (b. 1948)
4) Judy Chicago (b. 1939) and Suzanne Lacy (b. 1945) - Have each group work on a 20-minute presentation of their assigned artists, the last part of which should involve thoughts on a two-person exhibition. Questions to keep in mind and address are: How do these artists relate to each other? Did a personal rapport exist? What do they share and how are their oeuvres different? Why do you think it would be impactful to view an installation that features excerpts from both artists’ various bodies of work?
- End the semester with a group discussion about who of the many artists addressed this semester resonated most and why? How important is it for younger generation artists and scholars to look back?
Questions and Takeaways
- One could argue that performance art and the availability of film and video as new artistic mediums (starting in the 1960s) enabled the Feminist Art movement to gain momentum. In addition, more universities and art schools offered feminist art classes, furthering the growth of an international network between scholars and students focused on this subject. How do new materials and support networks aid in sparking new directions in art? Can you think of other examples?
Additional Resources
- An Evening with Carolee Schneemann - The New School
- Lucy Lippard Lecture on Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt - Blanton Museum of Art
- Judy Chicago – JudyChicago.com
- Ulrike Rosenbach - Artist's Official Website
- Suzanne Lacy: Between Feminism and Social Practice - Getty Research Institute
- Ana Mendieta: Decolonialized Feminist and Artist - Berkeley Arts + Design
- The Performance Artists Who Made Feminist History - Sleek Magazine
- Feminist Video and Performance Art Thrives on TikTok - Monica Castillo for Hyperallergic.com
- Adrian Piper – Adrian Piper Research Archive
