Women, Art, and Society

World of Art

by Whitney Chadwick

The place of women in the history of Western art remains controversial. In this brilliant and eagerly awaited study, Chadwick explores the issues relating to the conditions under which women have worked as artists from the Middle Ages to the present. Illustrated.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, Feminism, History, Womens, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1990

About the author

Whitney Chadwick is a professor emerita at San Francisco State University. She has published on issues of gender and sexuality in surrealism, modernism, and contemporary art. Her book Women, Art, and Society (Thames and Hudson, 1990; fifth revised and updated edition, 2011) explores the history of women’s contributions to visual culture from the Middle Ages to the 21st century through an examination of the intersection of class, gender, race, and sexuality with culture, geography, politics, and criticism.

Chadwick received her PhD from the Pennsylvania State University. In 2003, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Gothenburg. Her research has been supported by fellowships at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Forum for Advanced Studies in Arts, Languages, and Theology at Uppsala University.

(from https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/peo...)

Reviews

[Théo d'Or]

A book as a question mark.

I have often wondered why the history of Western Art has not recorded the names of great female painters, as it has done with great painters. ( for those who are interested in the subject, there is even a famous essay, from '70, which is called right so:
" Why Have There Been No Great Woman Artists ").

I could answer in many ways. May it be because the ability to paint masterfully is a grace that nature or God was only willing to give to men, ( let's be serious, though ), may it be because the history of Western Art has chosen not to register the names of female painters, labeling their art as " minor " or " secondary ".

Chadwick writes an essay on this variant, writing a beginning of alternative history in which he talks about some of the female masters, for whom art history did not do justice, until the end of 20th century.
Sofonsiba Anguisciola, Lavinia Fontana, ( most of them renaissance painters) , Elisabeta Sirani, Artemisia Gentileschi, Clara Peeters, Maria Merian, Angelica Kauffmann, Adelaide Guiard, Elisabeth Lebrunn, Evelyn de Morgan , Rosa Bonheur , Mary Cassat, Berthe Morisot, Frida Khalo, and many other. Does these names mean anything to you ? At least, to me, no. But the paintings inserted in the book dazzle you. Rembrandt could easily get lost among them.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, well-structured and informative read! There are many books featuring women artists throughout history, but this one does more than just that. This book puts the art in context of the social and political conditions of the respective time and place. It tells us about the often adversary conditions that women artists worked in, about societal changes that gave women artists whole new possibilities, and vice versa changes made by women artists fighting for their rights. All the while with a critical perspective and bringing up thought-provoking questions.
The edition I read was published in 2002 and covers a historical period from the medieval to just a couple of years before the publishing of this book - a comprehensive and amazing journey through art history!

Edit: read the 2020 edition which was great to revisit and remind myself. In the last chapters the update from the earlier editions is most visible as Chadwick takes up some very recent artworks and developments.

[Vera Joosten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vooral de hoofdstukken over de middeleeuwen en vroegmoderne tijd waren erg interessant! Het West-Europese perspectief wordt na een tijdje wel een beetje saai/beperkt. Maar overall wel een goeie books4life vondst :-)

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty decent book. I definitely learned about a few new women from history that I hadn't heard before (none of the big names, naturally). One caveat: the title needs "Western" in there somewhere. This is a book pretty much solely dedicated to Western women and their art. Chadwick doesn't even start discussing Russian women until it comes to the turn of the 20th century and the revolution (which had a large impact on the Western world). Otherwise, good.

[Grigoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing reference book, to the point and revealing a parallel history of art. As the author herself indicates through the title, the most important aspect of female misrepresentation in art history is the sociopolitical conditions and this becomes a focal point here.

[Macey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 (i learned a lot, but there's a lot missed out)

the edition of this I read was from 1996, so I'm aware that probably newer editions are more inclusive. however about 95% of the book was straight white ladies from england, a bit of western europe and america. the bit about from the 70s forward was more inclusive but it was still pretty white and western-centric, however the bit about the 90s had lots of very overtly feminist artists, women of colour and lesbians, and was very interesting.

that aside, I found it very interesting and I learnt a lot - it's mostly focused on painting but also has asides into sculpture and textile art, traditionally 'women's crafts'. lots of artists I hadn't heard of before, well-researched overviews, technical arty stuff, cultural context of each time period and where the artists were living. not enough colour pictures but there never are, I recommend looking up the works mentioned cos lots of them are super cool. lots of the feminist theory bits were interesting even if I wasn't quite sure what they were trying to say. pretty good explanations of the modern works.

well-written and relatively easy to absorb and understand.

[Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an incredibly detailed look at women throughout art history, but sometimes it's quite dense and a little confusing as it goes back and forth between ideas and artists often quite suddenly. Sad to see (but not surprised), little to no mention of disabled female artists beyond a brief mention of Kahlo's disability following her bus accident. I'm just saying that would've been a really great chapter...

[Natasha Matsiusheuskaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

достойная попытка объять необъятное, хотя к концу книги это уже больше было похоже на каталог кораблей - от бесконечного перечисления россыпи имен и названий работ приходилось спасаться долгими паузами в чтении. (а ещё я давно не читала ничего в русском переводе, и тут была неприятно удивлена очень посредственным его качеством)

[Christy Sherrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahh, Dr. Kontars Class. She is a woman who continuing calm made the study of this subject so interesting. She did her homework and if not knowledgeable on a subject would comeback to class with information. She often had information to give that was not in the book.

I know I am supposed to commenting on the book, so is was definitely added to my knowledge of women in art history. Though I am glad I read it at the end of my college career in which I had study many semesters of art history. So that the normal history facts were already know, and what is not normally mentioned in art history stood out.

[Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book still holds up pretty decently for having been published in the early 90s. It's a work of feminist scholarship and so goes into the societal reasons why women have been/continue to be excluded from the art world.
I think the author could have written more about why there was such an explosion of women of color in the arts in the 70s. Chadwick is also hitting some of the most low hanging fruit in terms of scholarship about women artists, focusing on a select area for each time period. Which makes some amount of sense, but it means that women of color are sidelined until the chapter on post-1950s artists. I would have liked to have seen more focus on Edmonia Lewis, for example.
I think if I was teaching a class in art history 101, I'd include chapters from this because it does cover a lot about the workings of the art world: how Baroque workshops worked, for example, or the way that medieval manuscripts shifted away from monastic production, or how art school and the study of the nude figure was at the heart of the French academy. There's a lot of history about art as a practice in this book.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zebranie całej historii sztuki tworzonej przez kobiety to oczywiście karkołomny pomysł. O ile do XX w. losy artystek są na ogół bliźniaczo podobne, o tyle później trudno o spójne podsumowania. Widać to też mocno w strukturze książki. Jako solidne, przekrojowe opracowanie może być ona przede wszystkim dobrym punktem wyjścia do dalszego zagłębiania się w wybrane tematy.
Dla mnie najciekawsze były fragmenty odnoszące się do samego sposobu pisania o dawnych artystkach. Sama wielokrotnie stawałam przed opisanymi dylematami i szczerze mówiąc nie dla wszystkich znajduję satysfakcjonujące rozwiązania.

[GJF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opener

I thought I knew a lot about art, but Chadwick demonstrates in enormous detail how institutions ranging from medieval guilds to contemporary publishers have marginalized the work of talented female artists. I recommend the Kindle version. It's easy to enlarge the pictures on a tablet and to search the web for more images of works by the artists who interest you most. Some readers may find the last few chapters tedious, but they need to be included to acknowledge the insights of artists born in the 1960 and 1970s

[Stephanie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one for school and it’s definitely a great introduction to women artists of the Western world over the ages. And, it’s just that - an introduction. Basically, it sparked my interest for a number of artists that I then went on to research separately from the book as the book only has room for very brief overviews.
A beautiful book full of wonderful illustrations, and a great place to get started if you are looking to learn about the very important and very under-highlighted history of women in art.

[Gorobets Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Отличный справочный материал о женщинах-художницах. Действительно, много имен, которые хочется исследовать.
Но русскоязычный перевод и редактура отвратительные! Впечатление, что переводил ChatGPT - ужасные несогласованные предложения, огромное количество пунктуационных ошибок. И я сбилась со счета, отмечая слово «веницианский» (да, с «и» во втором слоге). Ad Marginem, что случилось с вашим качеством?
Эту книгу лучше читать в оригинале.

[Sheila Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good reference to the works of approximately 600 female artists with images of the art work of approximately 260 of them from the 16th to the end of the 20th century. This book made me want to see much more of these artists’ works. I was familiar with maybe 50 of their names and/or images which lead me to want to know more. Like all great books there is so much of this book that will stay with me and keep me searching for more.

[Phillip Cash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was assigned a few of the first nine chapters of this book to read for a class, and ended up reading all of the book up until the end of chapter nine (that's a DNF at 48%).

It's well-written and includes some great info, but I'm a graphic designer, not an artist, so I don't feel compelled to read the remaining half, at least not right now.

(see my bio for a rating explanation)

[kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entirely possible that I'm just limited in my capacities to retain information but holy shit this was so hard to read. Too many big words that didn't need to be there. Which pains me to say but I also haven't had this hard of a time reading anything since when I was 12 and tried to read dune while not yet being medicated for ADHD.

[Ania Gaska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this so much earlier than I had. How is it that I went through art school and wasn't familiar with my art ancestors?! I was thrilled to read this and also furious that I haven't had the comfort and confidence that this book brought much earlier.

[Veerle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of women in art and how we can look at this. Only downside in my third edition was the lay-out. Pictures of art works not on the same page as they were described or no photo at all.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the content of this book. I read it for a summer class, and my only complaint, really, is that sometimes the formatting got a bit confusing when tracking text and related images. This is a common problem in art history books, though.

[Elizabeth Bousman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well informed and broad!
This was a great sourcing material for gendered studies and societal understanding toward women's interactions and integration within the arts.

Would recommend for personal perusal or academic study!

[Chris Hakanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much an explanation of women,s roles, women artists, and women's affect on art and culture. A great book for art historians, or artists as the information and color plates are informative and succinct.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating. Obsessed with the history of feminist art, I love it.

[laboriada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desactualizado (hay una enorme laguna respecto al arte de los últimos veinte-treinta años).

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it! I could relate to much of the writing angst and decisions about stepping away from the novel writing. Not sure I’d recommend it for non-writers though.

[Maggie]

This book is incredible and I would love to own it. It's such an informative read that can be put down and picked up again and again.

[sarinha]

Only book I've actually read for class.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last few chapters were very boring, but this was solid.

[Catrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

men are poo

[Robin Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reference book, with photos (some in color; mostly b/w).