Training and experience were disallowed to women, and even the term "amateur" would not be borne until the 18th century, because it was presumed that women only created art for the love of it, rather than for payment. However, due to the freedom of wealthy families, some women were tutored by gifted professional artists and gained the knowledge and experience that would equip them to not only indulge their passion, but with their expertise reform society's professional qualifications. Women artists have ameliorated the profession by breaking through the glass ceiling with evolutionary reform and innovation that opened the door to artistic education, commissions, and critical acclaim.
Vickery highlights several eclipsed women artists as she takes us on a tour to highlight the achievements that have emerged into art professions of graphic and fashion designer, painter, decorator, sculptor, architect and more. The Story of Women and Art begins in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century and travels through the centuries to the French Revolution and beyond, examining French impressionism, Dutch genre paintings, portraiture and historic art through to modern art in America.
The Story of Women and Art is presented in three episodes and includes an inserted 12-page Viewer's Guide. Artists highlighted in Episode One of the 16th and 17th centuries are Properzia dé Rossi's sculptures (some most uniquely carved), Sofonisba Anguissola's family portraits, Artemisia Gentileschi's exploration of the female perspective in paintings, Lavinia Fontana's breathtaking family portraiture, and Judith Leyster's enigmatic morally awakening genre painting, "The Proposition."
Episode Two takes us to 18th century Britain and France and the professions of artists Angelica Kauffmann and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, who painted portraits of the rich and famous. Rose Bertin became fashion premier designer to Marie Antoinette; the sculptor Anne Seymour Damer created works of art for friends, relatives and the royals, George III in particular; and Anna Maria Garthwaite's highly coveted designs were welcomed into the all-male textile industry.
Episode Three blazed new trails in the 19th and 20th centuries with war artist Lady Elizabeth Butler crashing through that male ceiling; Berthe Morisot's (Édouard Manet's sister-in-law) application of impressionism to domestic settings, Gertrude Jekyll brought impressionism into garden design; housewife Karin Larsson in her effort to explore contemporary design in her own home became a founder in Swedish interior design. Madeleine Vionnet freed women's fashion from an antiquated corseted design. And a brief biological review of Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art delightfully opens us into the American landscape.
The Story of Women and Art is an enlightening historic adventure of women artists whose masterpieces have not only graced museums throughout the world, but stood in the evolutionary line of artistic innovation to bring hope and confidence to future women artists. Their talent and efforts changed the design of society and opened a pathway for women's art as a profession. I found this documentary most entertaining and informative, and recommend it for the study of art. However, I must caution parents and educators that there is brief nudity in the artwork.
