Introduction 

For a long time the role of women in art has been silent, as has their role in various spheres such as cultural, social and political life. Evolving over time, the role of women in art has become increasingly prominent, but more importantly, it is the art world itself that has changed in recent years. In fact, the role of women has become increasingly important only recently, but women have always been present in the art sphere, creating high-quality works, often under male pseudonyms or anonymously, or still hidden and forgotten by those writing the history.

In this pedagogical dossier, we will first introduce you to the general topic, providing a brief historical and cultural context. Then, we will discover more about the gender dynamics in history, and we will go into details about some specific artworks, and some of the most important women in art, based on colours, shapes, brushstrokes, perspective and more. We will do so by introducing you to 10 of the famous women’s paintings and provide 2 practical examples of activities that can be implemented for an art workshop based on Women in art.

To summarise, in this dossier, you will:

• Learn more about women in art,
• Discover more about the gender dynamics in history,
• Explore the characteristics of the main artworks and techniques,
• And more!

The theme

Introduction

For a long time the role of women in art has been silent, as has their role in various spheres not only of cultural life but also of everyday life, social and political life. Over time, the issue of gender has partially changed, going on to alter some historically established gender balances. The role of women has changed, seeing an increasingly female participant and protagonist. Particularly in the last few decades, a substantial literature on the subject of women artists and their work has clearly demonstrated that women have played a significant role in the production of visual art for centuries.

The presence of women in art is the result of a long-lasting struggle with gender inequality and difference. The term feminist art is a recently coined concept, and what is now commonly referred to as ‘feminist art’ represents the change enacted by women artists to break down stereotypes and prejudices, and to pursue the ideal of gender equality. Following their vocation, figures such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Frida Kahlo rewrote history, paving the way for a new ideology: women in art are not only muses and models, but can also play the role of artists.

The woman artist for a long time wandered in an oblivion that engulfed women’s art without any differentiation of epochs or places. It was not until the 1960s with the beginning of women’s contestation to achieve equal rights that a liberation movement developed in art as well, which is the focus of many women artists’ research.

The artistic context: the artistic background of the theme, the major artistic questions and issues of the time

Let’s discover more about women in art.

The evolution of the representation of women in the art world.

It is interesting to analyse how the iconography of women has evolved in its artistic journey from antiquity to the present day, dwelling on a few symbolically significant historical moments. The role attributed to women in art, as well as in the social sphere, has changed over time. The female image has been the favourite object of creativity.

Woman as mother and fertility symbol:

In ancient iconography, woman was always associated with fecundity, and her knowledge and closeness to nature helped create a mystical world around her. She was believed to have a connection with the deities and, therefore, was involved in ritual and religious ceremonies. With her physical connotations, then woman began to become the subject of Palaeolithic small statuary.

Anthropomorphic statuettes, called “The Prehistoric Venuses,” 10 to 15 centimetres tall, made of stone, bone, or steatite, found in various excavations portray more than 25,000 years ago a woman who is the parent of the human being, who was worshipped and to whom ceremonies with votive offerings were dedicated millennia later, reported in many testimonies.

You can see the “Venus of Willendorf” here: Female figure sculpted in limestone, 25.000 years old.

Woman as an ideal of beauty:

The Greeks, on the other hand, came very close to the modern ideal of beauty, and beginning in the fifth century B.C., true aesthetic canons of beauty were established. To the idea of beauty the Greeks associated the concepts of grace, measure and proportion of the body.

Woman as mother and saint:

In the iconography of the Middle Ages the role of women changes, and with the advent of Christianity they are depicted in sacred images, identified with the role of the Virgin Mary, who becomes the protagonist of mediaeval art.

Woman as muse :

With the advent of Humanism and later the Renaissance, woman is no longer represented only as a saint, but is renewed and evolves into diverse aspects, being depicted in episodes of everyday life or mythological in nature.

In eras closer to us, woman became a model of beauty and eroticism to be studied and represented, and the model was the inspiring muse, but also the source of sin, or the example of domestic gifts and virginal motherhood, a mother woman who throughout the Middle Ages, until the 1600s was identified with the sacred image of the Madonna.

Woman as seductress:

In the male-dominated imagination, predominant in the arts, the ancestral figure of the mother is an insistent and prevalent presence, a figure that with the passage of time and changing customs has been transformed, in certain art in Western culture, into a destructive temptress, sensual and dangerous to man because she is seductive.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, on the other hand, woman is still enclosed in patterns that see her as angelic and ethereal like the romantic women of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s suave lyricism but also as a temptress source of perdition.

The redemption of the woman artist occurred only in the 1900s.

Although she was the privileged subject of artistic representation, it is difficult to reconstruct her active presence in the artistic field because for centuries the woman artist was invisible or almost invisible, her activity took place within the domestic walls, in convents, and her main occupations were in the so-called minor arts, such as embroidery, weaving and miniature. It was not befitting for a woman to hold brushes, hammer or chisel, especially if she was to be kept away from male nudity and promiscuity with men, which offended her virginal virtue. It was very hard for women to get the privilege of being admitted to a fine arts academy for this very reason. But in the end, women succeeded!

Historical and societal context of the movement

Since ancient times in the art world, women were simply subjects of inspiration for male artists.

Although evidence actually reveals that there have been female painters since Ancient Greece, their contribution to the art world remains marginal and unrecognised until the 16th century. In fact, among the earliest references of women in art, Pliny the Elder gives us some names of Greek women painters: Timarete, Kalypso, Aristarete, Iaia, and Olympas. Arguably, the female component in the art world has always been present; they may have always existed for as long as art has existed, but until the 16th century their contribution, their actual documented presence in history remains weak, almost invisible. It should be noted that in the Middle Ages, artists, both men and women, were rarely mentioned personally. They were considered artisans and rarely signed their works. In other areas, however, women were named: as members of portrait miniaturists, book illustrators or embroiderers. Most of them, however, were usually nuns or aristocrats.

It is only after the Renaissance period that female figures begin to emerge.

From the Renaissance to Impressionism, however, things really began to change. Truly great women artists, those who could be considered true professionals of art, escaped invisibility. We can mention Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Elisabetta Sirani, the Dutchwoman Judith Leyster, Rosalba Carriera, Elizabeth Vigée Lebrun, Angelica Kauffmann, Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot as the emblematic figures.

To bring us closer to the present day, the art-woman pairing becomes stronger towards the end of the 1960s, in an era that prides itself on change and in which civil rights movements are particularly active. What came to be known as ‘feminist art’ emerged in the same period.

Taking advantage of the particular moment of turmoil, of general dissatisfaction, the first women artists of that period tried to impose themselves on the scene with their own works; with the aim of rewriting history and eliminating stereotypes about gender difference, they made space for themselves in the world reserved almost exclusively for men.

The purpose of the movement was to use art to provide the viewer with a different point of view on society; a female point of view that aimed to eliminate gender inequality.

Characteristics of the movement

Now we will look at some of the women artists who have brought about change in art history, with their individual stories and works.

Artemisia Gentileschi

We open our list with Artemisia Gentileschi, the painter who lived during the first half of the 17th century and is remembered for being the first woman to enter the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. Daughter of the well-known painter Orazio Gentileschi, the artist inherited from her father the artistic rigour that she skillfully mixed with a drama that is instead taken up by the works of Caravaggio. The rape she suffered from a friend of her father’s and the subsequent trial are the events through which Artemisia became the emblematic figure of the fight against violence against women. The personal events quite clearly influenced her artistic career; an expressive force full of anger and resentment emerges from her works. Relationships with influential figures of the time, including Cosimo II de’ Medici and Galileo Galilei, and her talent as an artist led her to the achievement of important goals.

In the 1970s Artemisia, became a symbol of international feminism, partly because of the notoriety assumed by the rape and the trial. A couple of centuries after her death, she had numerous associations and circles named after her. Contributing to the affirmation of this image was her figure as a woman committed to pursuing her own independence and artistic achievement against the many difficulties and prejudices she encountered in her troubled life.

Angelica Kauffman

Maria Anna Catharina Angelica Kauffmann, born in Chur on October 30, 1741, was a Swiss painter who specialised in portraiture and historical subjects. She also had a passion for other arts such as music and singing. Her painter father initiated her into the fine arts, even accompanying her, for the purpose of a more complete education, on trips to Italy, where her talent was on display. Later she also went to London; she was the only woman among the founders of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Berthe Morisot

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot, born in Bourges in January 1841, was a French Impressionist painter. In her lifetime, Berthe Morisot, like other women artists of the period, had to struggle against those who found it disreputable for a woman to be a painter. The prejudices of the time, in addition to giving her difficulty in painting outdoors or in public places, made her indifferent and out of touch with the social issues that agitated Parisian life in those decades.

Berthe was thus led to paint interiors and domestic scenes, with elegant middle and upper middle-class women portrayed in their homes or gardens at various times of the day. She was never, however, a superficial artist: indeed, a constant feature of her art is the inner analysis of the characters, probably influenced in this by her friendship with many literary figures, particularly Stéphane Mallarmé.

Berthe Morisot was one of the few female exponents of the Impressionist movement. Graceful style and familiar themes contrasted sharply with the difficulties and prejudices she faced throughout her life.

Tamara de Lempicka

Tamara de Lempicka (Warsaw, 1898 – Cuernavaca, 1980), was a Polish painter, an icon of the glittering and unbridled luxuries of the 1920s in Paris, where she landed from St. Petersburg fleeing the Russian revolutionary uprisings. In France, de Lempicka adhered to the Art Deco style and brought to the canvas characters from her everyday life adorned with the latest fashionable clothes and expensive jewellery.

The uniqueness of her works lies in the combination of these modern elements with a style that recalls the hieraticism and plasticity of ancient statues. His powerful figures are made with clean, sharp lines, and the colours are vivid but applied with flat, compact brushstrokes that enhance the volumetrics.

Frida Kahlo

Frida, born in Mexico in 1907, is one of the world’s most beloved and well-known artists, a great example of strength and creativity. Her obsessive relationship with her battered body from a terrible accident in 1925 characterises one of the fundamental aspects of her art: she creates visions of the female body no longer distorted by a male gaze. At the same time she seizes the opportunity to defend her people through her art by bringing Mexican folklore into it.

Above, we presented only a couple examples of female artists throughout history. There are so many female contemporary artists who have established themselves in the contemporary art world with performances, visual arts, photography, audio video installations, etc.

Just to mention a few names that might later be interesting to explore with your students: Gina Pane, Rebecca Horn, Barbara Kruger, Marina Abramovic, Jenny Holzer, Vanessa Beecroft.

Pedagogical approach

Why is this theme relevant to adult learners?

Throughout the centuries, the female body was one of art’s favourite subjects, however, its interpretation varied, depending on historical, social, political and cultural factors. Just as in many areas of life, it has not always been easy for women to find the space they deserved in the world of art. So, it is important to highlight the position of women in art history, not only to discover more about art and cultural knowledge, but also because it is important for gender equality, in order to construct a society based on inclusion and equity.

What are the learning outcomes of embedding this art theme with an educational activity?

With this activity, learners will be able to discover the role of women in art history, and their place in society through the painter’s tools and eyes. Indeed, the activities are set so that learners can learn the power of light reflecting on objects and how it can influence artistic views.

How to do it: strategies, tools, and techniques.

Learners will take both active and inactive participation in their own learning. Through the presentation of different artwork produced in art history, they will learn more about the gender relationship and how gender roles have changed over time as well as a female perspective evolution.

Artworks

Artwork #1 Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) – Artemisia Gentileschi, 1639

• Its position-relation to the theme: Artemisia Gentileschi, daughter of the painter Orazio was the only Renaissance woman to have access to the Academy of Drawing in Florence, but she also entered history for being a symbol of feminism, as she had the courage to denounce rape by the painter Agostino Tassi. Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting is the most famous self-portrait by a female artist.
• Short description: This is an Allegory of Painting: Painting is personified by a woman who wears a long gold chain around her neck with a medallion in the form of a mask, her black hair is somewhat dishevelled, she wears a robe of iridescent colour, holds a paintbrush in one hand and a palette in the other.
• Location and European dimension: The painting is exhibited at Kensington Palace, in London.
• Possible educational exploitation: While being a woman during the Baroque era had many disadvantages in terms of rights and lifestyle, Gentileschi found this gem in Iconology to enhance her reputation. Moreover, although many of the idealised female figures evoked salacious or suggestive ideas during that period, Gentileschi successfully manipulated “Painting” in a way that empowered (not diminished) women. It may be interesting to see how art has been a tool of empowerment for women over time.

Artwork #2 Judith Beheading Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence), 1614–1621

• Its position-relation to the theme: Judith Beheading Holofernes is an oil painting on canvas made around 1620 by the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith and Holofernes is a pictorial condemnation of the abuse of women by the powerful. The biblical episode also gave Artemisia the opportunity to tell her dramatic personal story.

• Short description: Judith, inside Holofernes’ chamber, beheads the Assyrian general aided by her handmaiden. Holofernes, intoxicated after the banquet, is lying, naked, on the bed waiting for Judith, who has agreed to lie with him. Instead, the woman, seizing the general’s sword, cuts his throat with a clean stroke while her servant locks the soldier’s arms. The scene is immersed in darkness, the chiaroscuro used by the artist is very powerful, the scene stands out with sharp colours.

• Location and European dimension: The painting is located in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, in Italy.
• Possible educational exploitation: The figure of Artemisia Gentileschi aroused particular interest in critics because of her human story, and the paintings related to the story of Judith and Holofernes were the subject of psychological investigation. In addition to the biblical theme, which lends itself to investigating a mechanism of revenge on male arrogance, the brutality of the gesture depicted aroused interest. It may be interesting for students to delve into how art can be used as a means of denunciation, a method of giving voice to people who often have none.

Artwork #3 Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris, Angelica Kauffmann, 1790

• Its position-relation to the theme: Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris is a painting by Angelica Kauffmann. Among the most modern and emancipated women of her time, Angelica Kauffmann (Chur, 1741 – Rome, 1807) was one of the most innovative and unconventional painters of the eighteenth century. In a world where it was very difficult for women to enter painting academies, Angelica was able to make her own way in the artistic universe dominated by men.
• Short description: The episode, taken from Homer’s Iliad, shows the seduction of Helen, wife of the Spartan King Menelaus, by the Trojan prince Paris. Mythological paintings were categorised within historical paintings and therefore the most prestigious by the French Académie de peinture et de sculpture.They depict a mythological scene rather than a specific, static subject, such as a portrait.
• Location and European dimension: The painting is located in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• Possible educational exploitation: Mythological subjects have been depicted by many artists over the years. It can be interesting to go and see how women were represented in mythological tales, their role, their position.

Artwork #4 Self-portrait, Berthe Morisot, 1885

• Its position-relation to the theme: Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) is an 1885 painting in the Impressionist style by the leading female French artist Berthe Morisot. The painting represents a self-portrait of the artist. Painted at age forty-four, this was the artist’s first self-portrait.

• Short description: The Self-Portrait shows the artist, Berthe Morisot, turning her head to the left, appearing before us in almost full torso, but with both arms out of the frame. In this self-portrait, we observe Morisot’s decisive brushwork configuring a rather precise figure, from behind, against an abstract backdrop. The rough rendering of this outline, which includes the palette with colours, tells us that the painter’s eye is focused on the subject’s face and upper torso.

• Location and European dimension: The painting is now in the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, France.

• Possible educational exploitation: This is one of the artist’s self-portraits. It might be interesting for students to go and compare different self-portraits of women with portraits that male artists have done of women.

Artwork #5 The Game of Chess, Sofonisba Anguissola, 1555

• Its position-relation to the theme: The Game of Chess is a painting by Sofonisba Anguissola. But the painting is not only the representation of a chess game. Here, the battle painted by Anguissola alludes to the quest for a conquering woman. With this, the chessboard becomes an allegory, and the real queens are the three Anguissola sisters, who then spend their days virtuously, participating in an educational exercise.

• Short description: The painting depicts the painter’s three sisters and the old maid of the house. Lucia, the eldest of the three, is moving a pawn on the chessboard; in front of her Minerva, the fourth-born literate, raises a hand in a gesture that amuses her little sister Europa.

• Location and European dimension: The painting is located in the National Museum in Poznań, in Poland.
• Possible educational exploitation: The painting captures an ancient written history. It may be interesting for students to go and see the connection to other disciplines as well, such as writing for example. How are the various disciplines intertwined? What is the parallelism between women in art and women in writing?

Artwork #6 Eva Gonzalès, Morning Awakening, 1877

• Its position-relation to the theme: Morning Awakening is a painting by Eva Gonzalès. Eva Gonzalès (Paris, April 19, 1849 – Paris, May 6, 1883) was a French painter, considered one of the most sensitive interpreters of the Impressionist movement.

• Short description: The painting depicts a young woman, with thick black hair, in bed, with her hands under her pillow. She is positioned sideways, leaning on her side, looking fixedly in one direction. The style of Impressionist painting emerges in this painting: an intimate moment such as waking up is depicted and, at the same time, transformed, through brushstrokes and bright colours, into a special, unique moment. The work seeks to capture the beauty and joy of the morning awakening, when one opens one’s eyes to life.
• Location and European dimension: The painting is located in the Kunsthalle in Bremen, Germany.
• Possible educational exploitation: Eva Gonzalès is not the only woman remembered for being part of the Impressionist movement. It can be interesting for students to go and analyse different works by women from the Impressionist period, finding similarities and discordances.

Artwork #7 Untitled (Your body is a battleground), Barbara Kruger, 1989

• Its position-relation to the theme: Your body is a battleground is an artwork by Barbara Kruger. Barbara Kruger stands out for its immediacy, through the choice of a kind of advertising graphics that reveal and highlight short, focused sentences superimposed on black-and-white images predominantly presenting female figures. In all her works, the combination of text and images is meant to quickly send a message of social denunciation. Barbara Kruger openly manifests her opposition to political, economic and social injustices, lashing out against consumerism, racism, violence, discrimination and all abuses of power. In particular, her most cherished theme focuses on feminism.

• Short description: The work depicts the face of a woman, one part in black and white, the other half in black and white and negative. The photo is surrounded by an inscription in white on a red background that says “your body is a battleground”. The manifesto claims women’s right to have control over their own bodies and especially their own decision-making. Initially conceived at a demonstration held in April 1989 in Washington on the right to abortion, it was later adopted more generally as a manifesto representing women’s struggle for their rights.
• Location and European dimension: The painting is now located in the Broad Museum in Downtown Los Angeles, USA.
• Possible educational exploitation: This artwork can be seen as a representation of how art can be used as a means of protest, to question a certain system, certain social and cultural constructs. It can be interesting for students to better explore the link between artistic production and the specific historical-political context, to also see the important social role that artists can play.

Artwork #8 Creation of God, Harmonia Rosales, 2017

• Its position-relation to the theme: Creation of God is an artwork by Harmonia Rosales. Rosales recreates Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam by showing both God and Adam as black women. This image is meant to be a critique of artistic representation (but also of social representation and narrative more generally) shows that white subjects are the standard in classical art, while challenging the viewer to reflect on why this practice is commonly accepted. Here the artist touches on the theme of double subalternity: that of gender but also ethnicity.

• Short description: The Creation of Adam is a fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti, dating from around 1511 and part of the decoration of the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums in Rome. It is the most famous and well-known episode in the Sistine Chapel and one of the best-known and most celebrated icons of universal art, the subject of countless quotations, homages and parodies. This work reprises the scene, but here the protagonists are two black women.

• Location and European dimension: The painting is an oil on Belgian linen. In 2017, Rosales posted on social media an image, The Creation of God, of his first completed work for the solo exhibition Black Imaginary To Counter Hegemony.

• Possible educational exploitation: As we have already mentioned, art can be seen as a tool for social criticism and as a means of communicating one’s own message or opposing the message of another. In this case, the artist reflects and wants to denounce the normality of the representation of the white man instead of women and people of colour. How can racism be analysed through works of art? What does the art world tell us about the historical period of colonialism?

Artwork #9 Young Lady with Gloves, Tamara de Lempicka, 1930

This painting is protected under a copyright. Therefore, we cannot show it in this pedagogical dossier. You can see the artwork here.

• Its position-relation to the theme: Young Lady with Gloves is a painting by Tamara de Lempicka. She has been a very important female artist and she represents women as sensual and free: women of power.

• Short description: The painting depicts a woman in a green dress. The woman has a large white hat. She holds it with her right hand, and she has red lipstick on her lips. The artist uses straight, cutting lines; she uses geometric curves, which are typical for cubism.

• Location and European dimension: The painting is now at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

• Possible educational exploitation: Tamara de Lempicka’s style is close to that of cubism. It may be interesting for students to go and compare with other painters of the cubist period, to see similarities and differences.

Artwork #10 Rosalba Carriera, Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister, 1715

• Its position-relation to the theme: Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister is a painting by the artist Rosalba Carriera. Rosalba Carriera was an Italian painter and portraitist as well as miniaturist on ivory. She is among the most important names in 18th-century art. She approached painting miniatures and small pastel portraits because, according to the mentality of the time, they were, in painting, the most suitable achievements for a woman, and it was her delicate and elegant pastel portraits that made her one of the most influential, famous and sought-after artistic personalities in Europe.

• Short description: We see her leaning slightly to one side, looking confidently toward us. While the smile on her lips is barely perceptible, the friendly eyes are somewhat serious. In her left hand the painter holds a “picture within a picture,” on which she rests a paintbrush with her right hand. In this way she introduces us to her sister Giovanna, who was, as it were, the alter ego and housekeeper of the unmarried artist.
• Location and European dimension: This painting is now located in the Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence.
• Possible educational exploitation: For so many years in history, and in some conditions still today, many women did not have the choice for their own lives or to be independent, having a job or their own economic or housing independence. It may be interesting for students to go and explore the private lives of women artists who have remained in history, to see how many women artists had a chance to establish themselves as artists and make a living from their art.

Practical activities

Women and art history

Aims

To help students analyse and highlight the role of women in the art world throughout history.

Materials

• A computer with internet access
• A poster board
• Drawing materials
• Material for glueing and cutting
• Material for printing in colour

Preparatory stage for educators/mediators

Take paintings and works of art made by women, and divide them by historical period. Explain, according to historical periods, the most relevant historical, economic, political, and cultural events of the period.

Development

Then ask the students to select a work, and each will be responsible for tying the work to the specific historical cultural and political events of the period. A timeline will then be created, in which the works of women artists will be placed in chronological order. In this way, we will see not only the artistic evolution of the various artistic currents, but also the mutual connection between art and history.

To represent versus to be represented

Aims

When people think of women in art, they first immediately think of women as the object of artistic representation, as a muse that inspired the painter, as an element and symbol of beauty. For a long time women have in fact been represented by male painters, but they have not always been able to self-represent. It is important to go and analyse the difference, between being represented by someone, and having the freedom of self-representation, and thus self-determination.

Materials

• Access to a computer with an online connection.
• Sheets
• Pens or pencils

Preparatory stage for educators/mediators

Select artworks by men and some by women, in pairs, one male and one female for each art movement you want to see. Create a sheet card for each work, and combine in one pad for each art movement, the one painted by a man and the one painted by a woman.

Development

For each painting, try to identify certain characteristic elements, e.g., how colour is used, use of shadows, depiction of subjects, etc. See how the two paintings differ, and how the representation changes, whether more importance is given to some elements or others, whether one painting is more famous or well-known than the other, etc.

…but most importantly, have fun discovering the world of art!