Idealizing the Role of Women in Art: The Impressionists<\/p>\n
Introduction
\nIn 1852, after a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat, Napoleon III set about to create Paris as the center of European culture.
\nGeorges-Eugene Haussman was hired to design and oversee the transition of Paris from a medieval
\ncity to a world-class cultural center. For the individuals who lived in Paris at the time this was a major
\nundertaking that added a much different kind of life and pride among Parisians. The streets were
\nbroadened, outdoor fountains and parks were built, and buildings, such as the new Paris Opera,
\nbecame landmarks. At this time, Japan was opening itself up to Western traditions and sending its
\nart works out for exhibition. Of particular interest to the artist in Paris were the wood-block prints.
\nArtists living and working in Paris collected these prints and attended the gallery openings. Many
\nwere inspired by the broad flat expanses of color, the distinct outline, the subject matter, and the
\nfocus on the landscape. Other new inventions also helped to change artistic direction during this
\nperiod away from the classical and academic to the modern. The invention of the tin paint tube
\nallowed artists to paint outside; new folding easels made it possible to work easier in the out-ofdoors;
\nnew theories in optics inspired the artists to examine the impact of light, shadow, time of day,
\nand year upon objects. What was born out of all of this was an artistic movement called
\nImpressionism.
\nLearning objectives
\nBy the end of this unit you should be able to:
\n1. discuss the urban renewal that took place in Paris at mid-nineteenth century;
\n2. describe the impact of Japanese art on mid-nineteenth century French art;
\n3. state the type of art that was supported by the French Academy;
\n4. define Impressionism;
\n5. compare and contrast the work of the male artists of the Impressionist movement with those of
\nthe two female members;
\n6. analyze the difference in the work of the male artists with those of the females; and
\n7. discuss the work of Utamaro, Eisen, Kuniyoshi, Hokusai, and Hiroshige.
\nAssigned readings
\nRead all of chapter 22, \u201cNineteenth-century Impressionism.\u201d
\nHow to proceed
\n1. Review the key terms and create a new flash card for each one. As you proceed through the unit
\nadd the definition to each card.
\n2. Read the study notes and review the self-test questions in preparation for the readings below.
\n3. Read all of chapter 22 \u201cNineteenth-century Impressionism.\u201d
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 7 2
\n4. Complete the learning activities.
\n5. Complete the self-test questions.
\nKey terms
\nEdo
\nImpressionism
\nJaponisme
\nTokugawa Shogunate
\nukiyo-e
\nYoshiwara
\nBefore proceeding you should review the relevant key terms. The key terms are bolded within the
\ncourse study notes but not in the Adams text, so read carefully. If you come across additional terms,
\nwhich are not listed, create a new flash card, define the additional key term, and post it to the course
\ndiscussion area.
\nStudy notes
\nParis at mid-nineteenth century
\nUnder the rule of Napoleon III the city of Paris thrived. The Emperor appointed Georges Eugene
\nHaussman to oversee a series of improvements to the city, including its infrastructure and all of the
\npublic spaces and buildings. Completed improvements included new water and sewage systems,
\npublic parks, the Opera House, the Palais des Tuileries, and improvements to the Louvre. In their
\nvisions, Napoleon III and Haussman changed Paris from a medieval city to the grand cultural center
\nit is today. Paris was like other urban centers of the period being rebuilt as a modern city to provide
\nattractive living spaces for the growing bourgeois population, which had become rich through the
\nownership of industries. While the rich were attracted to all the glitter and cultural opportunities,
\ncritics of the new city saw only the displacement of thousands of poor families who could no longer
\nafford to live in the expensive new fashionable neighbourhoods.
\nIn 1871 France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War. As a result, an insurrectionary
\ngovernment was established, although short-lived. The rebellious leaders wanted to create a utopian
\nsociety citing the imbalance between the cultured rich who had made their fortunes in
\nindustrialization and the living poor. The rebellious citizens fought with government troops during the
\nmonth of May. Forty thousand individuals were believed killed while many of the grand monuments
\nraised by Napoleon III were destroyed in a reaction to the rich and powerful who enjoyed them. In
\n1872 the Commune collapsed.
\nThe French Academy of Painting and Sculpture maintained its hold over artistic production. The
\njurors at the annual Salon continued to exhibit the work of artists of the classical Academic style such
\nas the painter William Bougereau.
\nDefining Impressionism
\nIn 1874 fifty-five artists held the first independent exhibition of Impressionist art. Amongst the
\npainters were Manet, Monet, C\u00e9zanne, Pissarro, Renoir, Degas, and Morisot, who had their works
\nrejected by the jury of the annual exhibition of the French Academy, the Salon. To the critic Louis
\nLeroy the reason for their rejection was simple, and Monet\u2019s painting, Impression Sunrise, was a
\nperfect example. Leroy, like the jury at the Academy, noted that the work was sketchy, unfinished.
\nWithin a year, the term Impressionism was applied to the works of the modern artists who, in
\nresponse to their refusal, began holding the first of eight annual exhibitions in 1874 at the studio of
\nthe Paris photographer, Nadar.
\nToday many individuals, even those without artistic training, will recognize the term Impressionism.
\nHowever, remember that the term as it was applied in the 1870s was derogatory. Most people felt
\nthat the artists were unable to draw, and the use of pure color was vulgar. In fact, the Impressionist
\nartists broke almost every rule that came out of the French Academy. Their images of the new urban
\nareas of Paris did not evoke any moral lesson as David had taught. Their work did not even include
\nidealized images nor did they base their rendering within the credible Renaissance tradition of
\nbalance, harmony, perspective, modeling, and shading.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 7 3
\nThe one element that united the artists was their interest in contemporary subject matter. In fact, the
\nFrench writer, Charles Baudelaire, appealed to the artists and writers in his essay, The Painter of
\nModern Life, to focus on their own time and place. The artists were all members of the bourgeoisie,
\nand the world they knew and painted was the new urban life in Paris and their country homes and
\nholidays. Their subjects included the caf\u00e9 society, the racetrack, the Opera, the streets, and parks of
\nthe city. The rural areas of France also appeared, but these are country homes and outings where
\nlife is pristine and joyful. One of the newest inventions, the steam engine, shows up because it gave
\nthe artists the freedom to move from the urban arena to the rural areas with comfort and ease.
\nFor the women of the group, and there were only two of them, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt,
\ntheir world was the world of the home and garden. Unable to sit at the caf\u00e9 tables unattended or to
\nset up an easel and paint in a public place, these women relied on their own world for their
\ninspiration.
\nThe introduction of Japanese art to Paris
\nDuring the period of rule under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japanese artists developed a new type
\nof popular print aimed at the new merchant or middle classes: the woodblock print. These prints are
\noften called ukiyo-e, a term that means pictures of the floating world. Most people believe that the
\nterm refers only to the area of the pleasure quarters in Edo (modern day Tokyo), such as the
\nYoshiwara, where men would be entertained by women of the quarters. However, the term also
\nimplies something else\u2014impermanence. The idea of impermanence is from Buddhism and
\nunderlines the belief in a state of being that is carefree. In addition, during this period, the Shogunate
\nlevied high taxes on the merchants; to be able to enjoy the money that they had made in trade, these
\nmerchants would spend it quickly to avoid paying more taxes.
\nWoodblock prints were the answer to creating more inexpensive books and prints around 1650. The
\nprocess of creating a woodblock print has several stages. First, the artist would produce the drawing.
\nThis would be traced by an engraver onto wood blocks, one for each color that was to be printed.
\nEach color would then be applied separately to create the final print. Popular during this period were
\ncalendars, souvenirs from Buddhist temples, single and double albums made up of prints of
\nlandscapes, and city life in the pleasure districts.
\nWith the establishment of the Meiji rule and the end of the Shogunate, Japan, at the insistence of the
\nUnited States, opened its doors once again to the world after being isolated for several hundred
\nyears. The International Exposition of 1867 provided an opportunity for French collectors and artists
\nto see the works, which were rapidly filling up the new shops in Paris. The look of the \u201coriental\u201d was
\nmade popular by the simple lines and vivid colors of the works.
\nJapanese artists were familiar with European painting techniques through the introduction of books
\nby Dutch traders through the port of Nagasaki. Japanese artists studied these works and
\nincorporated perspective to create an open three-dimensional space. These new images contrasted
\ngreatly with the more traditional Japanese use of space with its angled points of view to create a
\nhierarchical scale. Of the Japanese artists whose work was exhibited in Paris, Hokusai was one of
\nthe favourites.
\nEdgar Degas and Claude Monet began to use steep perspectives and sharp contours without
\nshadows in their work, along with flat patterns of bright color. Degas is particularly noted for his
\nimages of women in their private spaces and of the theatre, subjects common to Japanese artists.
\nBoth Degas and Monet cut off their figures and included paraphernalia such as kimonos and fans to
\nadd a sense of the exotic to the work and to demonstrate their knowledge of this new art. In fact,
\nMonet amassed a huge collection of Japanese prints going on to transform his garden at Giverny
\ninto a large Japanese water garden complete with lily pond and bridge. The Japanese restrained use
\nof line, and shading was popular among the French artists of the mid-nineteenth century who were
\nattempting to challenge the traditional academic style that relied heavily on naturalism, modelling,
\nand shading. The vogue of collecting Japanese prints was another way that these avant-garde artists
\nchallenged the Academy. Through their collections, there was a change in subject matter. While the
\nAcademy supported large historical and mythological paintings, the landscapes and genre scenes of
\nthe Japanese appealed to the modern artists.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 7 4
\nNotice Manet\u2019s picture, Zola, in your text. Look at the background. What do you see? Japanese
\nprints and a lovely Japanese folding screen. Emile Zola was a writer and art critic who not only
\ncollected paintings from his friends who were the Impressionists, but he also collected Japanese
\nprints and folding screens. Notice also the etching of Mary Cassatt titled Letter with its flat spaces
\nand steep perspective. Examine also the picture by Monet in your text of his Waterlily Pond that was
\ninspired by his study and love of Japonisme.
\nElements of Impressionist painting and sculpture
\nThe pictures and the sculpture of the Impressionists differ greatly from the accepted academic
\ntechniques and subjects prevalent within the Academy. Immaculate detail, smooth, glass-like paint
\nsurfaces, and heroic subject matter remained paramount at the Academy, both in the subjects
\nstudents were taught and in the works accepted for exhibition at the annual Salon. The invention of
\nthe tin paint tube and a portable easel allowed artists the freedom to paint outside in the plein air.
\nThey would take their small canvases, already stretched and covered with a white primer called
\ngesso, to the villages, the fields, the caf\u00e9s, where they would paint directly on the canvas. Previously,
\nartists had done sketches outside and returned to their studios to mark in their sketches on the
\ncanvas, mix their paints, and work. The new study in optics and a keen interest in light and vast
\nspaces of bright flat color added to the new look of the pictures from mid-nineteenth century France.
\nNotice the two images of Rouen Cathedral in your text painted by Monet. One was painted when the
\ncathedral was flooded with bright sunlight while the other was painted early in the morning. Like the
\nJapanese artists, Monet was also interested in how light changed during the seasons, and he did
\nmany studies of buildings and the landscape during different times of day and different months.
\nSummary
\nThe middle of the eighteenth century was full of changes both culturally and politically. The Industrial
\nRevolution changed the lives of the people in Europe, creating innovations in both manufacturing
\ntechniques and goods. The ability to mass-manufacture certain materials such as steel had a broad
\nimpact on sculpture and architecture, while the struggle between classes, the workers, and the
\nowners resulted in new subject matter for artists such as the Social Realists. There was a new trend
\ntowards the accurate observation of nature and the rejection of the strict style of the Academy.
\nAdditional resources
\nA selected list of supplementary reading materials
\nClark, T. J. 1984. The painting of modern life: Paris in the art of Manet and his followers. Princeton:
\nPrinceton University Press.
\nMason, P. 1993. History of Japanese art. New York: Prentice Hall.
\nThompson, R. 2000. Impressionism: Origins, practice, reception. London: Thames and Hudson.
\nAudio visual materials
\nMary Cassatt: A brush with independence. 2002. Washington, DC: WETA.
\nImpressionism and Post-Impressionism. 1989. London: BBC.
\nWebsites
\nBy now you should be very familiar with the course. Search through the Internet using your favourite
\nsearch engine and the key word \u201cImpressionism.\u201d See what you can find. Share your best
\ndiscoveries with your peers on the course discussion board.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 8 1
\nUnit 8
\nPost-Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth
\nCentury
\nTopics
\nDefining Post-Impressionism
\nPost-Impressionism artists
\nFin de si\u00e8cle developments in art
\nIntroduction
\nThe British art critic, Roger Fry, was the individual who gave the artists working after Impressionism
\nthe name \u201cPost-Impressionists.\u201d While the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists had much in
\ncommon, such as their admiration for Japanese prints and their interest in color and light, there were
\nmajor differences. Post-Impressionists such as C\u00e9zanne and Seurat looked to the structure and
\nform of the objects in the painting. Van Gogh and Munch preferred to paint the inner turmoil and
\nanxieties of the individual rather than a naturalistic view of the world.
\nLearning objectives
\nBy the end of this unit you should be able to:
\n1. define Post-Impressionism;
\n2. describe two different approaches to Post-Impressionism and provide an example of the work of
\none artist for each approach;
\n3. discuss the painting Sunday Afternoon on The Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat;
\n4. compare and contrast two works by Vincent Van Gogh shown in your text: The Potato Eaters
\nand Starry Night;
\n5. compare Paul Gauguin\u2019s Self Portrait with Halo with one of Van Gogh\u2019s self-portraits illustrated in
\nyour text;
\n6. describe the influence that Tahiti had on Gauguin;
\n7. define the symbolist movement;
\n8. discuss how Edvard Munch\u2019s paintings illustrate the artist\u2019s state of mind;
\n9. state three artistic developments at the end of the nineteenth century; and
\n10. describe how the writings of Sigmund Freud influenced the artists of the late nineteenth century.
\nAssigned readings
\nRead chapter 23, \u201cPost-Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century,\u201d in Adams.
\nHow to proceed
\n1. Review the key terms and create a new flash card for each one. As you proceed through the unit
\nadd the definition to each card.
\n2. Read the study notes and review the self-test questions in preparation for the readings below.
\n3. Read chapter 23, \u201cPost-Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century,\u201d in Adams.
\n4. Complete the learning activities.
\n5. Complete the self-test questions.
\n6. Review units 7 and 8 in preparation for Quiz 2.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 8 2
\n7. Review the requirements for the research paper assignment.
\n8. Gather or order the resources required for the research paper assignment.
\nKey terms
\nAestheticism
\nArt Nouveau
\npointillism
\nPost-Impressionism
\nSymbolism
\nthe Vienna Secession
\nBefore proceeding you should review the relevant key terms. The key terms are bolded within the
\ncourse study notes but not in the Adams text, so read carefully. If you come across additional terms,
\nwhich are not listed, create a new flash card, define the additional key term, and post it to the course
\ndiscussion area.
\nStudy notes
\nDefining Post-Impressionism
\nPost-Impressionism was a French art movement that lasted roughly from 1880 to 1920. The artists
\nof the movement showed great concern for expression, or structure and form, while rejecting the
\nemphasis on naturalism and the changing effects of light upon objects at different times of the day
\nand in different seasons. Some of the artists who were part of this movement included Paul
\nC\u00e9zanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
\nThe British art critic Roger Fry, when the works of these artists were exhibited at the Metropolitan
\nMuseum of Art in New York in 1910, coined the term Post-Impressionism. Fry curated the exhibition.
\nPost-Impressionism artists
\nVan Gogh, Gauguin, and Munch belong to the group of Post-Impressionists that sought to evoke the
\npersonal, the spiritual, and the expressive in their work, while denouncing the naturalism of the
\nImpressionists.
\nVincent Van Gogh
\nVan Gogh\u2019s use of color in The Potato Eaters adds a sense of gloom and sorrow to the gathered
\nfamily members who share a simple meal. In Starry Night, Van Gogh\u2019s swirling sky gives us a
\nglimpse into his mental state shortly before he took his own life.
\nPaul Gauguin
\nGauguin rejected the urban atmosphere of the Impressionists and turned instead to the rural
\ncommunities of France with their traditional values as well as to the exotic spiritualism of Tahiti.
\nEdvard Munch
\nEdvard Munch\u2019s The Scream is not realistic. Munch has painted an isolated distorted figure, hands
\ncovering its ears and supporting its head. The central figure glances back to two dark figures. The
\nfigure is afraid; notice the eyes, the wide-open mouth. It is screaming. Is it afraid of the individuals
\nbehind it? Is it afraid of something else? This is not clear. The colors of the sky and the twisting and
\nbending of the river add a feeling of heightened anxiety to the image.
\nGauguin and Munch both used color and line to explore the expressive qualities of paint.
\nGeorges Seurat
\nSeurat\u2019s painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, is representative of the artists
\nwho were more concerned with structure and form than emotion. The people in the image are
\nenjoying their new middle-class wealth created by the Industrial Revolution seen in the distant smoke
\nstacks of the factories. The park they are enjoying was part of the urban renewal within Paris, a
\nplace where urban society could enjoy nature. This is a visual record of the new Parisian middle
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 8 3
\nclass with their new clothes and their proper manners. Unlike a village scene, they do not know one
\nanother. They go separate ways enjoying a lovely afternoon. Seurat\u2019s image also owes a depth to
\nnew studies in optics. In this work, as in others, the artist places either contrasting or bright pure
\ncolor next to one another to either intensify or nullify the other. This is called pointillism. Our eye or
\nbrain, current scientists do not know which one, mixes the colors and creates what we see.
\nPaul C\u00e9zanne
\nEven though Paul C\u00e9zanne painted directly from nature, like the Impressionists, he did not want to
\ncapture a fleeting moment in time nor did he want the objects he was painting to appear floating or
\ntransitory. C\u00e9zanne wanted the objects to appear solid and structured. He became preoccupied with
\nstill lifes and landscapes and analyzed variations in tone and color as well as the geometric forms of
\nthe cylinder, the sphere, and the cone that made up the subjects of his work.
\nFin de si\u00e8cle developments in art
\nAestheticism was a movement in art and literature that began in late nineteenth century England.
\nThe movement lasted from 1868 to 1901 during the Victorian era (the reign of Queen Victoria, 1839\u2013
\n1901). The artists and writers who participated in the Aesthetic movement were anti-Victorian in their
\nreaction to the world. They reacted against naturalism and realism. To them, art should provide
\nrefined sensuous pleasure and should not, in any way, embody moral teachings, sentimentality, or
\nusefulness. Art needs only to be beautiful. The images of the artists as well as that of the writers,
\nsuch as Noel Coward and Joseph Conrad, were highly metaphorical and suggestive, using symbols
\nto support layered meanings. Notice the image Solome with the Head of John the Baptist by Aubrey
\nBeardsley in your text. Carefully examine the symbols, such as the black widow spider, that
\nBeardsley has used to convey messages. The entire work with its strong lines and contrasting blacks
\nand whites gives a sense of beauty and horror blended together.
\nArt Nouveau also looked at the beautiful and the sensual but in a different way from the Aesthetics.
\nArt Nouveau was an international style of the 1880s and 1890s that reacted against industrially
\nproduced goods. Art Nouveau took many forms in many different countries. Examine the staircase of
\nthe Maison Tassel by Victor Horta in your text. This is a work typical of the movement. The lines
\ncreating the organic forms are expressive of a movement that took as its inspiration organic
\nelements of the world, such as plant stalks, tendrils, and vines. In Britain, many of the most
\ninnovative designs of the style come from the studio of Rennie Macintosh. You might want to do an
\nInternet search on Macintosh and the Glasgow School. In France the glass of Lalique and Galle
\nwould be the some of the best examples of Art Nouveau.
\nThe Symbolists were well aware of the new writings of Sigmund Freud and incorporated dream
\nimagery mixed with mythology to create an individual, often highly emotional or evocative, imagery.
\nNotice the works of Edvard Munch in your textbook. While Munch is listed along with Van Gogh and
\nGauguin as an example of a Post-Impressionist artist, it is in the area of deeper inner meaning and
\nthe theories of Freud that Munch\u2019s work proves profound. Notice again The Scream. The image is,
\ntoday, as it was when it was painted, a symbol of personal angst.
\nOther symbolist artists, more connected perhaps, are Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Pierre
\nPuvis de Chavannes. Moreau\u2019s Galatea is illustrated in your text as an image of sexual longing, of
\nunreturned love.
\nSummary
\nThe artists of the Post-Impressionist movement that included the Symbolists, the Aesthetics, and
\nthose working in the style of Art Nouveau, reacted against the earlier style, Impressionism.
\nImpressionist artists observed the daily lives of the urban rich, and they observed and recorded the
\neffect that changing seasons and times of day had on objects. The Post-Impressionists rejected
\nsheer observation and turned instead to creating images related to their own inner psyche based on
\nthe contemporary writings of Sigmund Freud.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit 8 4
\nAdditional resources
\nA selected list of supplementary reading materials
\nDorra, H. 1995. Symbolist art theories: A critical anthology. Davis, CA: University of California Press.
\nGreenhalgh, P. 2000. Art nouveau, 1890\u20131914. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
\nLucie-Smith, E. 1985. Symbolist art. London: Thames and Hudson.
\nAudio visual resources
\nImpressionism and Post-Impressionism. 1989. London: BBC.
\nWebsites
\nBy now you should be very familiar with the course. Search on the Internet using your favorite search
\nengine and the key word \u201cPost Impressionism.\u201d See what you can find. If you have access to the
\nInternet, share your best discovery with your peers on the course discussion board.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit13 1
\nUnit 13
\nFeminist Art
\nTopic
\nFeminist approaches to art and its history
\nIntroduction
\nThroughout this course a few women and their artistic endeavors have been discussed. The
\npercentage of women included in most introductory art history surveys has increased since the
\n1980s, but prior to this time no women were included. In fact, there were few women instructors at
\nart colleges or universities, and if you went to an art gallery you would not see work by women but
\nimages of women. In 1969 a group of women led by Judy Chicago set out to challenge these
\ndisparities. This unit of your text examines some of the accomplishments of the woman artists.
\nLearning objectives
\nThis is an introduction into how women artists have created works to both celebrate women from the
\npast and release women as being objects of male-dominated society.
\nAssigned readings
\nRead \u201cFeminist Art\u201d in chapter 29, from \u201cJudy Chicago and The Dinner Party\u201d to \u201cPlus \u00e7a change,\u201d in
\nAdams.
\nHow to proceed
\n1. Use this week to consolidate your understanding of all the course material thus far. This will help
\nyou in your preparation for the final exam.
\n2. Read the study notes and review the self-test questions in preparation for the readings below.
\n3. Read chapter 29, \u201cFeminist Art\u201d from \u201cJudy Chicago and The Dinner Party\u201d to \u201cPlus \u00e7a change,\u201d
\nin Adams.
\n4. Complete the learning activities.
\n5. Complete the self-test questions.
\n6. To consolidate your understanding of the course content and prepare for the final exam, review
\nall course materials including the flash cards, self-tests, and learning activities that you have
\ncompleted for each unit.
\n7. Complete the sample examination.
\n8. Submit the course evaluation.
\n9. Take the final exam
\nKey terms
\nThere are no key terms for this unit.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit13 2
\nStudy notes
\nFeminist approaches to art and its history
\nJudy Chicago and The Dinner Party
\nJudy Chicago was teaching in California when, like many of her other colleagues, she wanted to
\nrectify the history of art which, at the time, included no women in its canon. Were there women to be
\ncelebrated? And if so, why didn\u2019t we know about them? The Dinner Party set about, as an early
\npiece of feminist art, to celebrate the lives of women who had contributed much to society. The
\ninstallation is a triangular table, approximately 14 metres long on each side, with place settings for 39
\nwomen, including Artemesia Gentileschi, Georgia O\u2019Keefe, Sappho, and the Primordial Goddess.
\nEach setting consists of a plate and a goblet set on embroidered runners. The table stands on a tile
\nfloor with the names of 999 other notable women inscribed in tile.
\nThe Dinner Party is a celebration of women\u2019s achievements and their art, mediums that were
\nrelegated to the sidelines and labelled craft during the Renaissance. At the time, craft was a
\nderogatory term implying a practice that was not associated with the liberal arts. In The Dinner Party,
\nChicago and the individuals who collaborated with her to create the project not only resurrected
\nvarious mediums but also underscored the idea that feminist artists do not have to use the male
\nmediums, such as painting, to be valid. Chicago did many other installations that are not included in
\nyour text; go to the Internet to explore these. They include but are not limited to, Woman\u2019s House,
\nThe Birth Project, and the Holocaust Project.
\nKiki Smith
\nKiki Smith uses bronze, paper, and wax to create sculptures related to the body. Her figures range
\nfrom the miniature to the monumental, from monochromatic imagery, to bright vivid works. Smith
\nliked the visceral, sensual quality of these materials. By mixing the traditional with the nontraditional,
\nshe created transitory effects by wrapping material like bronze with tissue paper or by juxtaposing
\ndiverse materials in different works. Her goal was to explore the possibilities of the body as both
\nsubject and object.
\nMaya Ying Lin: The Women\u2019s Table
\nMaya Lin came to prominence with her minimalist site-specific monument, The Vietnam Veteran\u2019s
\nMemorial for Washington, DC. The monument, illustrated in another section of your text, fulfilled all
\nof the requirements of the commissioning body. It did not celebrate war, and its reflective nature was
\npart of the goal. So successful was the installation that Lin was invited to create other memorials and
\nmonuments for events, such as the Civil Rights Movement.
\nOn Thursday, 26 October 1995, Lin unveiled the Women\u2019s Table on the grounds of Yale University,
\nher alma mater. Observing the National Young Women\u2019s Day of Action with singsongs and
\nspeeches around the Women\u2019s Table, the young women of Yale celebrated the memory of Rosie
\nJunenez, the first woman known to have died from an illegal abortion in 1977.
\nSummary
\nFirst-generation feminist artists looked back into history and recovered the names of women and
\ntheir artwork that had been forgotten by male historians. They rejected the fine art mediums so
\nprevalent in the male-dominated art world and turned again to the mediums used by women. Judy
\nChicago\u2019s Dinner Party media included embroidery and china painting among others. Second- and
\nthird-generation artists, such as Kiki Smith, examined the female body from the context of the female
\ngaze. Others, such as Maya Lin, created monumental works of nonfigurate, or minimalist, sculpture
\nto celebrate victims\u2014of war, of racism, or of sexism. In the Women\u2019s Table Lin calls attention to the
\nfact that women have, in the past and could in the future, lose control over their own bodies as
\nabortion legislation vacillates.
\nIntroduction to Art 2A FAAH 1040 Unit13 3
\nAdditional resources
\nA select list of supplemental reading material
\nChadwick, W. 2002. Women, art, and society. London: Thames and Hudson.
\nChadwick, W. and T. Latimer. 2003. The modern woman revisited: Paris between the wars.
\nPaterson, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
\nChicago, J. 1993. Through the flower: My struggle as a woman artist. New York: Penguin.
\nGuerilla Girls. 1998. The Guerilla Girls\u2019 bedside companion to the history of Western art. New York:
\nPenguin.
\nMalone, M. 2003. Maya Lin: Architect and artist. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishing.
\nAudio visual resources
\nLin, Maya. 1995. A Strong Clear Vision. Santa Monica, CA: American Film Foundation, Saunders
\nand Mock Productions.
\nWebsites
\nAn enormous number of websites have evolved to compensate for the lack of material in
\nstandardized texts or in video. Begin by doing a simple Internet search using \u201cwomen artists.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Idealizing the Role of Women in Art: The Impressionists Introduction In 1852, after a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat, Napoleon III set about to create Paris as the center of European culture. Georges-Eugene Haussman was hired to design and oversee the transition of Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}