Online Art Appreciation Course: Great Women Artists from the Renaissance to Romanticism

Great Women Artists from the Renaissance to Romanticism 

Our 8-week evening courses are the perfect way to learn more about art. Discover little-known works from the Gallery’s collection, get to know old favourites in more depth, and explore other great collections of the world with our expert art historians and guest speakers.

Course dates:

• Tuesdays, 6pm–7.15pm
• Course ran from 21 March to 16 May 2023
• Classes held on: March (21, 28), April (4, 18, 25), May (2, 9, 16). 

Course topic:

In her 1971 essay, American art historian Linda Nochlin famously posed the question "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?". She noted that it was not due to a lack of talent but instead it was a result of a gendered society that did not provide women with access to education, training, or permission to compete in the art world. While this is accurate and certainly stopped many from following this path, in the fifty years since the discussion was begun more and more women artists have been rediscovered. Many of these artists had successful professional careers and yet were forgotten for centuries and not included in the male dominated canon of Western art history. They came from different backgrounds, social classes, countries, and eras. They can be found to have worked in a variety of materials from carving fruit stones to painting large scale altarpieces. They were founders of academies, guild members, won artistic honours, had patrons that were at the highest levels of society from princes to popes and created extraordinary works of art.

Throughout this course we examined the reasons that these women found a way to succeed, and how much of an achievement it was to do so by placing them within their relevant historical context, from the Renaissance to Romanticism. Some of the artists discussed in detail were: Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, Clara Peeters, Angelica Kauffmann, Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun and Anne Seymour Damer.  

About the tutor:

Jessica Fahy is a freelance art historian and is on the lecturer and guide panels for the National Gallery of Ireland, the Hugh Lane Gallery and UCD School of Access and Lifelong Learning. Jessica gives both private and public talks and tours across Ireland, abroad, and online, covering all areas of Western art from the 14th century to the present day. She has a MLitt in Art History from UCD where she also received her undergraduate degree with English as her joint major. She completed her MA in Italian Renaissance Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London in 2007.

Course Outline:

Week 1 Introduction: “Get thee to a Nunnery”

The Renaissance convent was often the only place that a woman could exercise her artistic talent. We looked at the reasons for this, and considered some of the artists of this background that are still known to us today.

Artists included: Saint Catherine of Bologna, Plautilla [Pulisena] Nelli, Lucrezia Quistelli.

 

Week 2: In her own Image

Many women artists painted self-portraits which provide us with a view of the artist through their own eyes, while also reflecting the ideals of the society they belonged to. We took a deeper look into the reasons women artists seem to have engaged frequently in this genre of art.

Artists included: Sofonisba Anguissola, Catharina van Hemessen, Marietta Robusti.

 

Week 3: Nature and Nurture

In seventeenth-century Northern Europe, a lively private art market emerged from a growing demand for art among the independent wealthy merchant class. This large competitive market meant that artists often specialised in specific genres, and many women artists of this region became experts in still life. Women as innovators, followers, and specialists in this art market were examined.

Artists included: Clara Peeters, Judith Leyster, Gesina ter Borch.

 

Week 4: The Baroque and the Beautiful

The seventeenth century in Europe saw the reinvigoration of the Catholic Church following the Counter-Reformation. Religious art evolved, in some cases becoming bold and dramatic, or in others, sweet and pure, aiming to move the viewer. Some women artists engaged in these emerging trends, producing works that addressed the same subject matter or style as their male counterparts.

Artists included: Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani, Mary Beale.

Week 5: Rock, Paper, Scissors

Not all women artists were oil painters, many worked with other material ranging from pastel to fruit stones to marble. We discussed the very fine precision work perhaps more expected of women, to larger sculptures.

Artists included: Properzia de‘Rossi, Joanna Koerten, Suzanne de Court, Rosalba Carriera and Anne Seymour Damer.

 

Week 6: Revolution and Recognition

From the 18th Century, political and industrial revolutions in Europe saw great changes to the way society functioned. A number of these changes benefited women artists, with some permitted to attend and even found academic institutions. The liberties afforded to women varied from place to place and sometimes did not last for a long period. Various artists were considered in this light.

Artists include: Angelica Kauffman, Mary Moser, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun & Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.

 

Week 7: Women Artists in Ireland

We were joined in this session by Anne Hodge, who spoke on London-born Maria Spilsbury Taylor (1776–1820), who moved to Ireland with her family in 1813. Her oil portraits and genre scenes depict the well-to-do families, in particular the Tighe family, that she and her husband, an evangelical cleric, associated with. Her sketchbooks are full of lively drawings of domestic life and give insight into the occupations and interests of women in the early nineteenth century. 

Guest Speaker: Anne Hodge, Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Ireland.

Artists include: Maria Spilsbury Taylor, Susanna Drury & Mary Delany.

 

Week 8: Lavinia Fontana & Conclusion

Lavinia Fontana is widely recognised as the first woman artist to have achieved professional success beyond the confines of a convent or a court. In conjunction with the Gallery’s latest exhibition, Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker (6 May – 27 August 2023), exhibition curator Dr Aoife Brady will discuss this extraordinary artist’s life and work, exploring the unique circumstances that permitted her to flourish as a woman painter in the Renaissance period.

Guest Speaker: Dr Aoife Brady, Curator of Italian and Spanish Art, National Gallery of Ireland.

Other courses in the series:

• Winter 2023: Impressionism and the Painting of Parisian Modernity
• Autumn 2023: On the Move: The Journeys of Artists and Artworks, 1650 - 1950