TAD3205*

Women, art and social context 3A

6 points - One 2-hour lecture-seminar, and one 1-hour tutorial per week - First semester - Caulfield and Gippsland - Prerequisites:Two second-year TAD subjects - Corequisites: None - Prohibitions: TAD2215, TAD2205, TAD3215, VSA2150, VSA3150 - Elective

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should be able to (1) recognise the significant contribution women have made to the cultural production of the past, and continue to make, as artistic producers, agents and patrons; (2) understand the various factors that affect women's social and professional position as both artists and women and consider them in the context of contemporary feminist theory; (3) have a conspectus for identifying, comparing and appraising examples of works of several women artists; (4) recognise particular stylistic characteristics and formal modes, as well as icononographic and thematic concerns of individual women artists, (5) to critically discuss the cultural practices of women artists in historical, artistic, ideological and socio-political contexts, and theorise the basis for their historical marginalisation.

Synopsis By focusing on key figures from various historical periods and countries, their family and social contexts, careers, material conditions of their artistic practice, patronage networks and critical reception, the course will examine how social, political, economic and ideological factors have impacted on women's creativity, their cultural production and artistic success. An interdisciplinary and contextual approach will analyse the specific historical determinants and material conditions that have structured the social position of these subjects both as artists and as women. Issues concerning the relationship between women's artistic practice and the dominant (male) traditions will be considered: education and training; access to and membership of official institutions and professional bodies such as academies, guilds and art schools; life drawing and the relevance of artistic discourse and theory to their studio practice; workshop practices and organisation (structural, logistic, economic); social position and role of women; class and gender; representation, female aesthetics and imagery . The depiction of the female form will be a major theme, especially in relation to the ways in which women artists have responded to societal norms and expectations and traditional male-defined constructions of 'woman' and 'femininity'. Questions raised will address the following: how do women in patriarchal societies negotiate their careers, gain public commissions and critical success; what kinds of patronage networks do they need to create in order to establish a market for their work; by what mechanisms have they attained professional recognition and popular acceptance; have they adopted traditional themes, artistic traditions and iconography, or do they invent new modes of expression and cultural practices; is there such a thing as a 'female' aesthetic; what has been the critical response to their work and public opinion? Third year students will be expected to read more widely and critically.

Assessment One class paper of 1500 words: 30% - One 2000-word essay: 40% - One visual test: 30%

Prescribed texts

Whitney C Women, art and social context 2nd edn, Thames and Hudson, 1996

Recommended texts

Broude N and Garrard M (eds) The expanding discourse: Feminism and art history Collins, 1992
Broude N and Garrard M (eds), Feminism and art history: Questioning the litany Harper and Row, 1982
Chadwick W and Cortivon I (eds) Significant others: Creativity and intimate partnerships Thames and Hudson, 1993
Gaze D (ed.) Dictionary of women artists 2 vols, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997
Greer G The obstacle race Farrah, Strauss and Giroux, 1982
Harris A S and Nochlin L Women artists 1500-1975 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977
Jacobs F H Defining the Renaissance virtuosa: Women artists and the language of art history and criticism Cambridge University Press, 1997
Lawrence C (ed.) Women and art in early modern Europe: Patrons, collectors and connoisseurs Pennsylvania State U P, c1997
Pollock G and Parker R Old mistresses: Women, art and ideology Pantheon, 1982
Pollock G Vision and difference: Femininity, feminism and the histories of art Routledge, 1988
Schor N Reading in detail: Aesthetics and the feminine Methuen, 1987

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