Women, Art, and Society

This acclaimed study challenges the assumption that great women artists, such as Artemisia Gentileschi, are exceptions who “transcended” their sex in achieving major works of art. In fact, many other women have produced paintings, sculptures, and crafts since the Middle Ages, and have been neglected. Whitney Chadwick provides much more than an alternative canon of women she reexamines the works themselves and the ways in which they have been perceived as marginal, often in direct reference to gender. In her discussion of feminism, and its influence on such a reappraisal, the author also addresses the closely related issues of ethnicity, class, and sexuality. Since Women, Art, and Society was first published in 1990, globalization, rapidly shifting demographic and geographic realities, and an explosion of new technologies have transformed the ways we think about the world, and prompted yet more critical consideration of how gender, sexual difference, race, and culture intersect. In an additional chapter for this expanded edition, Chadwick reflects on the new globalism in the visual arts and brings the discussion up to date by focusing on the many biennials, triennials, and other international art shows that have emerged during the 1990s to provide an important forum for a whole range of women artists from around the world. 303 illustrations, 79 in color.