Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art [Hardcover]

Cornelia Butler (Editor, Introduction), Alexandra Schwartz (Editor), Griselda Pollock (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2010

This landmark survey represents the first effort by a major North American museum to examine its collection by highlighting the production of modern and contemporary women artists. Featuring essays by nearly 50 writers, including both MoMA curators and outside scholars, among them many of the strongest voices in current research on art and gender, this groundbreaking publication presents a variety of generational and cultural perspectives. Modern Women focuses on a diverse range of artists active from the late nineteenth century to the present whose works span the spectrum of mediums and genres in the Museum's collection. Organized chronologically into three sections-"Early Modernism," "Mid-Century" and "Contemporary"-the book comprises both long and short essays emphasizing new research on women artists within these historical time periods. Subjects include women at the Bauhaus, design collaborations, photographers between the wars, the legacy of Maya Deren, Latin American artists, performance art, architecture, land art, "Riot Grrrls," African American artists, collage and assemblage in contemporary portraiture as well as essays on individual artists such as Lillian Gish, Sybil Andrews, Diane Arbus, Ida Lupino, Hanne Darboven, Bridget Riley, Ana Mendieta, Louise Bourgeois, Adrian Piper, Nan Goldin, Zaha Hadid, Janet Cardiff and Lin Tianmiao. Heavily illustrated with works from the collection, Modern Women constructs a conversation between past considerations of MoMA's collection and current feminist narratives of art history, putting these varied modes of exploration in productive dialogue.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"a big, deep, feisty book of essays, several years in the making" --Holland Cotter, The New York Times, May 27, 2010

...A big, deep, feisty book of essays, several years in the making... --The New York Times --Holland Cotter

Monumental in scope and buttressed by authoritative essays... --Elle Decor Magazine, Jul/Aug 2010

Five years of research have brought forth a richly illustrated book with 48 scholarly essays about women artists (both famous and lesser known) within the Museum of Modern Art's collections. Readers not familiar with the broad range of media that the museum collects will be astonished at the variety of international artistic expressions. Arranged chronologically, the first innovator into modernism we meet is the 19th-century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. The museum also frankly discusses its history, when feminists demonstrated against it because of its lack of equitable representation. An informative section at the end contains short biographies of influential women behind the scenes at the museum: the three founders, as well as other donors, curators, and administrators. VERDICT This is an important study on two levels: how an institution openly addresses gender issues, and how instrumental women have been in advancing the arts to where they are today. --Library Journal

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York (June 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087070771X
• ISBN-13: 978-0870707711
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Pop
  • #61 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Contemporary Art
  • #76 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Modern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the missing present, July 28, 2010

By 

not a dancing bear (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art (Hardcover)

Don't we all somehow wish that our grievances towards an institution would be addressed? We express our grievances, make work that we can only hope at the very least could be a small nick of a push towards the direction of the kind of world that we want (a fair one). We fan a hope, despite unabashed displays (Skin Fruit) of what Clement Greenberg calls "the umbilical cord of gold" until boom there is beautifully conceived evidence (this important book) that an institution (one whose history is inextricable to the history of Modern Art) can not only be capable of change but also a reexamination and then ultimately, a correction of itself. And so with renewed motive force, we keep moving, and push on.