Women Painters in France, 1770-1830

Class Description

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a group of gifted women artists rose to prominence in France, thanks to cultural shifts toward more "feminine" values like Sensibility and domesticity, and the opportunities afforded by the upheaval of the French Revolution. Despite facing many of the same obstacles and sexist assumptions that women artists have faced throughout history, these artists were able to assert their creative power. Featured artists include Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, Marguerite Gérard, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Marie-Denise Villers, Constance Meyer, and Marie-Éléonore Godefroid.

Jeffrey Nigro is a Research Associate in the Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium and an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Interpretation at the Art Institute of Chicago.

What to Expect

Format: In Person

Class Capacity: 24

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged

Materials List

Required

• Digital Course Packet

First Reading

• Paris Amanda Spies-Gans, “Exceptional, But Not Exceptions: Public Exhibitions and the Rise of the Woman Artist in London and Paris, 1760-1830”, Eighteenth-Century Studies 51 no. 4 (Summer 2018): p. 393-416.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Possibilities and Opportunities for Women Artists in France
2. Celebrities and Rivals: Vigée-Le Brun and Labille-Guiard in the 1780s
3. The 1789 Revolution and its Aftermath
4. Women Artists and Patrons at the Dawn of Romanticism

Cost and Registration

4 Sessions, $220 ($198 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($220), Community Supported ($205), and Sponsor ($235). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

Take a Look

View our full schedule of adult education classes.

Support the Newberry

Your generosity is vital in keeping the library’s programs, exhibitions, and reading rooms free and accessible to everyone.

Questions?

Call us at (312) 255-3700 or send us an email at adulteducation@newberry.org.

We are in office Tuesday through Thursday, 10 am–6 pm CT.
We are available by email Tuesday through Saturday.