Women in Visual Art: Theory and History

In this course we will explore women’s contributions as makers, audiences, subjects, and scholars of visual art. We will learn to identify evidence of women’s agency as artists, patrons, and cultural networkers, while seeking to understand how conditions varied by place and time. Though our initial exploration of this topic will focus on women in European societies (1400-1750), comparisons may range from the courts of Asia to colonial and indigenous cultures of the Americas, to their legacies in the globalizing art worlds of the 20th and 21st centuries. We will consider the historically specific opportunities and restrictions placed on women in the visual arts within domestic spaces, urban environments, and transnational settings. Debates may include the relegation of the study of women artists to Women’s Art, fragmentation and myth in historical documentation, and the existence and characteristics of a ‘feminine style.’ Through lectures, discussions, and projects we will learn to analyze inherent biases in visual narratives, the creation of art, and the writing of art history.