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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
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鈥揳fter 1565); Sofonisba Anguissola (Italy, 1532鈥�1625); Lavinia Fontana (Italy: 1552鈥�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?
Additional Resources
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鈥檚 Last Supper (1495-98) and Jacopo Tintoretto鈥檚 Last Supper (1592-94)
- With the entire class, compare Andrea Mantegna鈥檚 , c. 1495-1500 and Artemisia Gentileschi鈥檚 (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?
Additional Resources
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鈥揳fter 1654), Louise Moillon (France, 1610鈥�96), Josefa de 脫bidos (also known as Josefa de Ayala) (Portugal, 1630鈥�84), Elisabetta Sirani (Italy, 1638鈥�65), and Luisa Ignacia Rold谩n (also known as La Roldana) (Spain, 1652鈥�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
Week 3 - Female Painters of 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 鈥淒utch Golden Age鈥� 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鈥揳fter 1636), Judith Leyster (1609鈥�60), Maria van Oosterwyck (1630鈥�93), Rachel Ruysch (1664鈥�1750), presenting a series of visual examples.
- Break students into two groups. Have Group A work on a presentation of Judith Leyster鈥檚 (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 (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鈥檚 painting in relation to by Frans Hals at the Mus茅e du Louvre, Paris and 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鈥� use of subject matter?
- What use of symbolism can you trace?
Additional Resources
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 Libert茅, Egalit茅, Fraternit茅 [Liberty, Equality, Fraternity] sparked the beginning of the era of enlightenment.
- With the entire class compare The Swing (c. 1767) by Jean-Honor茅 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 Eug猫ne 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?
Additional Resources
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the work and lives of Ad茅la茂de Labille-Guiard (1749鈥�1803), Marie-Denise Villers (1774-1821), 脡lisabeth Louise Vig茅e Le Brun (1755鈥�1842), and Marie-Gabrielle Capet (1761鈥�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: Ad茅la茂de Labille-Guiard鈥檚 (1785, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), Marie-Gabrielle Capet鈥檚 (c. 1783, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo), and by Elisabeth Vig茅e 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 (c. 1859, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) by Alexis-Joseph P茅rignon (1806鈥�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 Ad茅la茂de Labille-Guiard, Marie-Denise Villers, 脡lisabeth Louise Vig茅e 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 鈥淥rdinary鈥� 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?
Additional Resources
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鈥�1895), Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Eva Gonzal猫s (1849-1883), or Suzanne Valadon (1865鈥�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: at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, at the Dallas Museum of Art, at the Mus茅e d'Orsay, Paris; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and 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
Week 6 - Women of a New Age in Search of Abstraction
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 Franti拧ek Kupka, for example.
- As a group discuss and compare Franti拧ek Kupka鈥檚 (1912); Robert Delaunay鈥檚 (1912); Piet Mondrian鈥檚 (1913), and Wassily Kandinsky鈥檚 (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?
Additional Resources
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鈥�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鈥橩eeffe, 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
Week 7 - Documenting the Worst: Female Artists of the War Generation
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to the work of K盲the 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鈥� oeuvres: and .
- Have each group present the works in question, after they specifically explored subject matter and composition.
- With the entire class, discuss how Kollwitz鈥檚 and Ryggen鈥檚 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 K盲the 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?
Additional Resources
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Present the class with some background information on the German Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, whose life鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 , 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 厂补濒辞尘辞苍鈥檚 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 , which she visited in April 1945, just after its liberation.
- Discuss why Zinkeisen鈥檚 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
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 H枚ch (1889鈥�1978), Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943), Anni Albers (1899-1994), Gunta St枚lzl (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鈥檚 oeuvre and how it reflects the aesthetics of the movement.
- Together, discuss why the artists鈥� use of collage and photomontage (H枚ch) and craft (Taeuber-Arp, Albers, St枚lz) 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
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 Br眉cke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), of which Gabriele M眉nter 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鈥檚 (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: by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1907), by Gabriele M眉nter (1910), and 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 M眉nter were considered Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) by the Nazi Regime. As a group watch and discuss why their works were labeled as such.
Questions and Takeaways
- How did Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele M眉nter 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
Week 9 - Women of Surrealism: Visions of the Fantastical
Tuesday
European Positions: Leonor Fini, Jacqueline Lamba, Meret Oppenheim, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Unica Z眉rn
Classroom Activities and Discussions
- Provide an introduction to Surrealism, discussing its origins in post-World War I Paris. Address the movement鈥檚 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 Andr茅 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鈥�1993), Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985), Kay Sage (1898-1963), Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012), and Unica Z眉rn (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
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鈥�1954), Alice Rahon (1904鈥�1987), and Remedios Varo (1908 鈥�1963).
- Divide the class into four groups and have each examine one of the following four works: Leonora Carrington鈥檚 (1953), Frida Kahlo鈥檚 (1936), Alice Rahon鈥檚 (c. 1946), and Remedios Varo's (1957).
- Have students give a 15-minute presentation of their discoveries, having paid attention to subject matter and composition, but also the artists鈥� social connections. Do you detect references to other artists鈥� 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
Week 10 - Female Pioneers of British and American Modernism
Tuesday
New York: Florine Stettheimer (1871鈥�1944), Katherine Sophie Dreier (1877-1952), Paule V茅zelay (1892鈥�1984), Jessica Dismorr (1885鈥�1939), and Helen Saunders (1885鈥�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鈥�1944), Katherine Sophie Dreier (1877-1952), Paule V茅zelay (1892鈥�1984), Jessica Dismorr (1885鈥�1939), and Helen Saunders (1885鈥�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 鈥渕odernism鈥� to describe a particular period in time or a mindset?
Additional Resources
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 Lo茂s 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鈥檚 (1920s), Augusta Savage's (c. 1929), and Selma Hortense Burke's (n.d.).
- Have each student write 4 ways that Lo茂s Mailou Jones鈥檚 (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
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鈥�1934), Vanessa Bell (1879鈥�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 (1907), Vanessa Bell鈥檚 (1915), and Alice Neel鈥檚 (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
Thursday
Depictions of Self: Helene Schjerfbeck, Tamara de Lempicka, Elfriede Lohse-W盲chtler, 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-W盲chtler (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鈥檚 (1915), Tamara de Lempicka鈥檚 (1929), Elfriede Lohse-W盲chtler鈥檚, (1931), Amrita Sher-Gil鈥檚 (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
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鈥檚 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鈥橦ara.
- 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鈥�1988), Lee Krasner (1908-1984), Hedda Sterne (1910-2011), and Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989). Have each group explore their subject鈥檚 biography, professional achievements, and lasting impact. In addition, have them pay special attention to these paintings: by Perle Fine; by Lee Krasner; by Hedda Sterne; and 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鈥� 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
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: by Joan Mitchell (1953, Private Collection), by Helen Frankenthaler (1957, Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), and 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
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鈥� 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 , the , the and .
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鈥� 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
