Customer Reviews

Women Artists: Works from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not rating this book as much as commenting on what some sellers seem to be doing that I object to in sharing knowledge for profit. This book is actually available for $30 to nonmembers from the Museum Shop at the NMMA. I'm shocked that someone would want to charge such a high price for this book. I just received their Fall 2011 news bulletin and it is listed there. Thought I'd check to see if Amazon might have a better price. Looks like a used paperback costs more than their brand new softcover.

One of our nation's newest art museums is also one of the world's most important. This Washington D.C. institution is the only one devoted to women's contributions in art. Many of the featured women are not household names since they are neglected in most art history textbooks. This museum catalogue outstandingly written by the art historian, Nancy Heller is a great introduction to the most noteworthy artists in the collection. The book is divided into eight sections and features beautiful large color reproductions and brief biographies of all the discussed artists:

16th and 17th Century Europe- From the Renaissance there have been female artists, especially in Italy. The Bologonese painter, Lavinia Fontana is considered to be the first professional woman artist. Her "Portrait of A Noblewoman" is probably the museum's earliest work. By the 17th century, women in other countries started to become successful artists. Rachel Ruysch and Judith Leyster were the two best known female Golden Age Dutch artists, Louise Moillon from France and Clara Peeters from Flanders were pioneers of still life painting, and the German Maria Sybilla Merian was known for her scientific illustrations of plants and insects. Italian Baroque painting is represented by Elisabetta Sirani's tender "Virgin and Child".

18th Century Europe- In the 1700s France and England started to become the major centers of European art. The French portraitist, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun is the most familiar artist discussed in this chapter. Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Marianne Loir, and Marguerite Gerard are the other featured French women. Other important artists include Italy's Rosalba Carriera who innovated pastel painting, the Swiss born neoclassical painter Angelica Kauffman who was a founding member of London's Royal Academy, and English silversmith, Louisa Courtauld.

19th Century Europe-By the nineteenth century more women in France and England were able to attend prestigious art schools like the Academie Julien and Royal Academy. This chapter discusses the work by three of the better known French artists: animal/landscape painter, Rosa Bonheur, sculptor, Camille Claudel, and impressionist, Berthe Morisot. Elizabeth Jane Gardner, an expatriate American who trained and worked entirely in France is also featured. Unfortunately, the museum has very few works from Victorian era England. The Canadian born Londoner, Elizabeth Adela Forbes who was a founder of the Newlyn School is the only highlighted English woman artist in this section. Her painting, " Will O' The Wisp" illustrates several favorite Victorian art subjects such as inspiration from literature, landscapes, and scenes featuring children or young women. Hopefully, the museum will acquire more English works, especially those by the numerous female pre-Raphaelites.

19th Century North America- Although there were colonial women artists, most of their work has been lost. Heller stresses the importance of the woman artist in the United States during the 1800s. The most famous by far is Mary Cassatt. Other important women in this section include portraitists Sarah Peale and Cecilia Beaux, genre painter, Lilly Martin Spencer, impressionist, Lilla Cabot Perry, landscape etcher, Mary Nimmo Moran, still life painter, Claude Raguet Hirst, sculptor, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, and the Philadelphia born pre-Raphaelite artist, Anna Lea Merritt. However, I felt that Heller should have showcased Merritt's work in the previous chapter since almost of her art was created in England. Her etching of St. Cecilia stresses the importance of religious subjects as another major theme in Victorian art.

20th Century Europe- This section has some of the most prolific and interesting women artists. Besides painting and sculpture, several also designed costumes, textiles, and theater sets. Featured artists include the Germans Kathe Kollwitz, Gabriele Munter, and Lotte Lasserstein, Swiss painter, Alice Bailly, Russian painter and designer, Sonia Terk Delaunay, French painter, Suzanne Valadon (who was better known as one of Renoir's models and the mother of artist, Maurice Utrillo), English sculptor, Barbara Hepworth, and Portuguese modernist, Maria Elena Vieira da Silva.

Early 20th Century North America- This section deals with American women whose artistic careers began before World War II. Included are photographs by Berniece Abbott and Louise Dahl Wolfe, Asian inspired prints by Bertha Lum, American Indian pottery by Maria Montoya Martinez, African American works by Lois Mailou Jones and Elizabeth Catlett, a Georgia O'Keeffe drawing, and portrait paintings by Alice Neel and Frida Khalo. However, my favorite piece is "Summer Sunlight", an impressionist style beach scene painted by Beatrice Whitney Van Ness.

Late 20th Century North America- As not a fan of contemporary art, this chapter didn't interest me as much.It features abstract expressionist paintings by Lee Krasner(Jackson Pollock's wife) ,Grace Hartigan, and Joan Mitchell, sculpture by Louise Nevelson and Petah Coyne, and works by the feminist artists, May Stevens and Hollis Sigler. However, I enjoyed the three figurative paintings in this section: Stevens' portrait "Soho Women Artists", Melissa Miller's allegorical animal painting, "Broken Wing", and Sigler's, "To Kiss the Spirits", a landscape which borrows elements from Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" which is part of her Breast Cancer painting series.

Artists' Books- Book art is a recent art form. Heller fully discusses the emergence of this specialty and describes the work by several female book artists.

Although some other notable women like Sofonsiba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Emily Carr, and Tamara de Lempicka are not represented in the museum, this still makes a great survey on women's art history. If you are interested in learning more about this subject, you should add this museum publication to your art library.