Girlhood: Exploring “The Girl” in Art

by Claire Marie Healy

Hanging on the walls of galleries around the world are hundreds of works titled Portrait of a Girl. But what is the purpose of a Portrait of a Girl ? What should she do, and who is she for? These are the questions that writer Claire Marie Healy explores in Girlhood.

Expressions of girlhood are shaped by art and visual culture as much as they are represented by them. Claire Marie Healy explores this relationship, guiding us through the making and meaning of girlhood in Britain’s national collection of art. She traces the journey of “the girl” in art, from a silent subject of portraiture to a self-expressive creator of self-portraiture. By studying the images that are made, shared, and collected by girls today, Girlhood invites us to readdress patriarchal art historical narratives and explore contemporary expressions of girlhood/s.

Includes Color Illustrations

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2024

Reviews

[Fozz]

The girlies that get it, get it!

[Lauren]

A quick and insightful look at girlhood’s representation and impact on art. Incredibly relevant and stoked that I bought more from this collection! (The Sea, Empire, and Strangers!)

[Freya Hicks]

Good book about girlhood. References to Louise Bourgeois.

[darah]

Many points of this novel I looked around my room to say “wow”, i wrote it down quite a few times too. I proudly admit that I am one of the girls who takes pleasure in the beauty of everything. I think its one of the beautiful virtues in women, the ability to see the beauty in everything. The transition through all the points was seamless. The points made were interesting. The flaw that stood out is I cannot say the writing style invoked much emotion. Lovely read overall.

[Manicpaperclip]

Tasty little morsel of a book

[Lola]

To say 'oh to be a teenager girl thrusts into life and her last summer before adult responsibility claims her, accompanied by the weapons of this book and Portrait of a dead girl by The last dinner party' would be too simple. This book is not just how you experience it but how its subject has been experienced since its birth and we are just its most recent viewers, we view and can only hope to understand it this time. The subject of this book explodes girlhood and how it has been portrayed in art through the years, it starts out only being seen through the gaze of men but then the experience is taken back. As well as understanding I wish to be part of it, to carry the history of girlhood on.

[Florrie Noble]

picking up something called “girlhood” made me feel like i was about to fall into a tiktok trap of micro-trending buzzwords but this was a really interesting read on young women in art, subjection and surveillance. i knew i’d like it when it slapped me in the face by comparing a portrait of marie antoinette to leaked nudes.

[Elif Erışık]

the friday of the week i read this i went to a free MUBI exhibition & low and behold they were showing Mary Ellen Mark's work!!

[Wren]

8/10

[mira]

i live for finding something i actually want to annotate

[Izzy Scott]

wish it was longer, i could’ve read a full length book on this topic