The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art [Paperback]

Guerrilla Girls (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1998

We were Guerillas before we were Gorillas. From the beginning, the press wanted publicity photos. We needed a disguise. No one remembers, for sure, how we got our fur, but one story is that at an early meeting, an original Girl, a bad speller, wrote 'Gorilla' instead of'Guerilla.' It was an enlightening mistake. It gave us our mask-ulinity. Ever wonder about the abundance of naked male statues in the Classical section of your favorite museum? Did you know medieval convents were hotbeds of female artistic expression? And how did those "bad boy" artists of the twentieth century make it even harder for a girl to get a break? Thanks to the Guerrilla Girls, those masked feminists whose mission it is to break the white male stronghold over the art world, art history-as we know it-is history. Taking you back through the ages, the Guerrilla Girls demonstrate how males (particularly white males) have dominated the art scene, and discouraged, belittled, or obscured women's involvement. Their skeptical and hilarious interpretations of "popular" theory are augmented by the newest research and the expertise of prominent feminist art historians. "Believe-it-or-not" quotations from some of the "experts" are sprinkled throughout, as are the Guerrilla Girls' signature masterpieces: reproductions of famous art works, slightly "altered" for historic accuracy and vindication. This colorful reinterpretation of classic and modern art, as outrageous as it is visually arresting, is a much-needed corrective to traditional art history, and an unabashed celebration of female artists.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-The Guerrilla Girls are a group of anonymous artists and art professionals whose mission is to expose racism, sexism, and homophobia in the art world. The introduction presents an overview and critique of traditional art history, and following chapters highlight various time periods and the female artists who were at work during those eras. From classical Greece to the present, the group introduces many "mistresspieces" that have been overlooked by traditional male critics. This irreverent and sometimes angry review of art history makes use of humor and satire to illuminate the issues and to exact a small revenge on a field that has dismissed many gifted individuals on the basis of gender and/or ethnicity. A chronology of general women's history entitled, "Guerrillas in the Midst of History" opens the book. Lively text and a creative adaptation and interpretation of famous works will hold the interest of teens while introducing them to a revisionist and more inclusive history of art in the Western world.
Debra Shumate, Bull Run Regional Library, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014025997X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140259971
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles
  • #61 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism
  • #100 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Women's Studies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A funny and informative revision of traditional art history, January 20, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Signal Mountain, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (Paperback)

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside companion to the History of Western Art succeeds on several levels. First of all, it works on a visual level, with graphics that draw you in immediately. But after you are drawn in, one is equally impressed by the text, which is simultaneously informative and humorous. Between the David Letterman-like top 10 lists, the cartoons, and the collages, one is constantly entertained while simultaneously becoming outraged by outdated, demeaning quotes about women from well-known men. At the same time, one learns a lot about some female artists that have been ignored during our art history studies, and one sees a different perspective on some more famous female artists that were mentioned but treated with less admiration than they probably deserved.

All in all, this book succeeds as an extension of the Guerrilla Girls performance art, reaching out to those of us who couldn't go to a New York opening and see it crashed by these women in Gorilla masks. Hopefully soon, partially thanks to books like this, more people will wonder why most of the nudes in museums are women, while so few of the artists represented in these museums are of that same gender.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far too short!!, April 1, 2003

By 

Crystal (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (Paperback)

This book takes you, with biting wit and humor, beyond the works of "accepted" masters (all of whom I deeply admire, by the way), showing you that for every renaissance man, there was an Artemisia Gentileschi. That among the plethora of still lifes from the 17th and 18th centuries, you that you would do well to study those of Rachel Rueysch, who captures every petal and leaf with intoxicating detail and color. They were able, even with my deep-seated resistance to "modern art", to instill in me a deep appreciation for works of impressionists, modernists, post-modernists and abstract artists.

In short, an ideal starting point for those looking to delve into art history, yet still ideal for those academics with short attentions spans. I only wish it were longer!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An absolute fun read for lovers of art history!, April 26, 2005

By 

J. Crase "Jenniec75" (Monroe, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (Paperback)

An absolute fun read for lovers of art history! This book gives a brief history of women in art, challenges they faced (and still face today), and the roles of women from classical times through the present time.
Just who are the Guerrilla Girls'? They are a group of artists and arts professionals, who in the 1980's, decided to fight discrimination in the art world and become the self-proclaimed "conscience of the art world."
"We wore gorilla masks to keep the focus on the issues rather than our personalities."
The Guerrilla Girls' begin with the images of women from the Classical Era, where reliefs of Amazons decorated buildings, but an ancient Greek or Roman "women could not vote or engage in transactions worth more than a grain of barley."
Travel through the Middle Ages where Hildegard von Bingen decorated beautiful texts and Christine de Pizan made her living as a writer (the first woman known to have done so!)
The journey continues through the Renaissance with Lavinia Fontana, Sonfonisba Anguissola, and Artemisia Gentileschi, through the 17th and 18th centuries with Judith Leyster and Angelica Kauffman; all on the way to the 20th century and Frida Kahlo, Lee Krasner, and Eva Hesse.
What makes this book so much more interesting than the other books coming out on women artists, is the humor the Guerrilla Girls' use to get the point across and the graphic nature of the book itself. Each page is filled with examples of artwork and fun graphics.