Who are they? Push? from whom, to where? International Art News - women's exhibiting society. Collective. Not domestic, but a group.
Pull? Unlocked for them by men? Gatekeepers of the art world - curators, galleries, and critics - mostly men throughout history in the UK/musuems.
Range of education - expanded social accomplishment - from 1850s professions - merchants, lawyers; Drs and politicians - their spouses were middle class women- leading to art education. But mostly social accomplishment for women meant time at home for decoration in the role of mother/governess.
Family apprenticeship or female school of art, physically underneath male school of art in the basement! Men's studios - spacious and light; women's dark, only for drawing in a domestic space.
Private schools gave lectures. Female artists became suffragettes and campaigned for education in science and business. Women were admitted to London and regional schools. Sheffield targeted working class women too for drawing classes. Institutions reshaped sexual difference (women could draw dressed women in the domestic space) rather than giving women access to the same opportunities as men. Withholding training gave women disadvantages as they were not able to compete for exhibiting opportunities without studying the body form. Petition by women to RA for life class, led to women drawing the partially draped figure being the norm.
St John's and Grosvenor schools of art. Incremental progress by policy change. Private and governmental process. More professional women artists by 1900 due to art education changes.
Slade - Two thirds women students in 1905. eg Gwen John. Slow to take up women. Policies geared for women. Removed the drawing application. No prior training - able to learn without family support for classes beforehand. Assessing via University of London criteria gave students credibility. Edna Waugh 1899 youngest female student, aged14.
Separate teaching rooms for women to keep women out of composition and figure drawing conversations.
Image. Gwen John - bohemian. Augustus John - drawing of mixed company in student rooms. In each others rooms - not solely in single sex accommodation.
Slade - female subjectivity of Gwen John. Nude girl 1909-10. Image of reverie.
Decoration deemed feminine, pretty ( now deemed superficial)
Edwardian times, draftsmanship was learned from history painting- for mural and public art - and women were excluded from this.
Awards won by Gwen John, Winifred Knights (Deluge - I saw this at Dulwich Picture Gallery). Grand themes - monumental scale. Taught by Henry Tonks.
We know who taught many men artists, but we don't know which women tutors taught the brilliant women.
Jessie Newbury, early 1900s. Arts & Crafts exhibition. Half of GSA at 1900 was women. Did their own designs - not far from commercial galleries at museums. Architecture, ornamentation of books, book plates. Art valued in its application.
Opportunities after graduation. Dealer/critic system. Grafton and Grosvenor Gallery for women. 1890s Slade women well placed for this. English Art Club - forged relationships via Slate, admitted to full membership. Alternative to RA and the undemocratic salon system.
Women landscapers. Exclusion of women from New England Art Club.
Vanessa Bell - all male jury is a bad thing. Need to understand the criteria - then all get work in - when trained by the jury!!
Ethel Waugh - c1924. Letter found in archive from her advised 'don't identify your work by a female name - jury will try to keep women out'. Extreme support of other women artists. Exhibited at NEAc. Exhibited at Womens Art Club. President and leader of hanging committee.
Alternative to Boys Clubs. WIAC - separate and ok with it. In feminist network - early 1900s. Used art nouveau international art language. Women's agenda at the front. Touring exhibitions. Interact with Grafton Gallery space - could see across exhibition room. Artistic values - freedom of expression. Prominent sight lines to associate works together. Made important pacifist statement of 1st world war. Nausicaa - celebrates femininity and peace.
Where did women run free without limitations of Slade exhibition committee.
Class and sex impact the access to education. Class stopped progression beyond graduation. Could women support themselves? Big problem for less privileged women. Constraints of the time. Women looked after after each other.
Most successful women were privileged. Social relationships and living together, and sexuality helped. Very few working class women - as restricted by money.
Annette Wickham. Breaking into the boys club.
RA = the establishment.
2 founding members - Moser and Kauffman. Then waited until 1936 for Annie Swinnerton and Laura Knight.
Recent history shocking/depressing.
Members and students and exhibitors.
1768 34 members - 32 men, 2 women. RA. Wome had a toehold of exhibiting - but were marginalised.
Royal Society excluded all women.
Zoffany image. Women on wall at back of new life drawing room. Casts refer to life class. No women in life class. Image is positive in that that he included women on the wall. Otherness and lack of parity with men. Icon of expulsion. Moser and Kauffman only allowed to vote on new members - could not be council or committee members; or to teach in Academy schools.
Kauffman - Swiss. 1794. Self portrait of artists hesitating beaten music and painting. Mytholygises her own life. 1778-80 creates 4 oval ceiling paintings - demonstrating colour, invention and composition - drawing from casts as excluded from life class.
Hired models to draw them in private (rumours about propriety). She had to dress as a man to go to life class. Hired Charles Cranmer - RA porter/life class model. Only exposed arms, shoulders and legs and her father always present. Moved to Rome 1781. Died there 1801. Sent pictures to RA exhibition every year.
Moser trained with father. Flowers and landscapes - w/c and drawing; developed oil technique to become RA. Eyesight failed.
Maria Cosway did not get RA status. 1789 Death of Miss Gardiner - history/mythology style. But was ignored by her peers.
20th C. Why no women? 18th C enlightenment accepted (2) women. 19th C more repressive.
Formality of RA became more - excluding women. First members were the international set, but more traditional themes led to more English men being elected; who selected more English men - wanted peers to be 'like me"!.
19th C Lady Butler - exhibited at RA exhibition. Nominated by existing members, then had to be seconded, and voted in - needed 20 votes. Then would be added to the list for vacant places. Not admitted until then.
1875 - Maiden nameThompson. Not successful
1877 Applied in name of Lady Butler. Not successful
1879 Butler. Lost by 2 votes.
However she rattled RA members. Led to proposal to suggest no more women members; current members could not hold positions, attend meetings or teach.
Laura Herford. 1st RA Student. The Little Emigrant, signed L Herford. 1860. No actual roles forbidding women. Thus L Herford was accepted into school. Numbers of women kept in check - on grounds that there was not enough space, for 30 years.
1890s women admitted to life class.
1878 women campaigning to attend life class, 1900 still campaigning for same access.
Could attend life class with the fully nude woman, and the partially draped man.
1914 RA refused to admit any more women because they Ould outnumber the men.
Rokeby Venus Deeds not Words - Mary Somerville - 6 months imprisonment - for vandalism - chose this image for its monetary value and persistence of men gawping at it.
Annie Swinnerton. Associate of RA 1922. Nominated 3 times, elected aged 77. Associate membership gave no benefits. Very little advantage in practice. Symbolic move - died 1933.
Dod Proctor. Morning 1926. ARA 1934, RA 1942
Laura Knight, RA 1936? Associate RA. RA Collection - representative portfolio given to gain membership . 1965 solo retrospective. In her 80s, RA 30 years - first invitation to RA Annual Dinner.
In 1960s 4/5 RA Women.
Ethel Walker - ARA 1940. RIP 1950
Gertrude Hermes ARA. Women members were not invited to RA Annual Dinner - wrote to RA and complained about how outrageous it was that Laura Knight had been a member for 30 years, and not ever invited. Time to update their rules.
RA very slow to change. Elizabeth Frink- first female RA sculpture 1977. Categories - Painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving and print. For draughtsmen and designers. Not women!!
Ann Christopher RA 1989. Always asked for identity when she went in - no grey hair!!!
Phyllida Barlow and Cornelia Parker
4 architects - eg Hadid.
RAs for painting - 19 out of 50. More women. Jean Cooke, Eileen Agar (aged 60) Gillian Ayres (60s). Emma Stibben, Sonia Boyce.
Women did not hold main offices - President, Treasurer, Professor - until 2011.
First RA woman solo show in the main gallery - Marina Abramovic.
RA - upping their game for women?. Last 10 years - 50/50 for representation of women. Aiming for parity. Many high profile women. 125 members - very senior too. Typically very old and male population - despite younger women being elected. Election process leads to a self-perpetuating membership.
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