BBC: The Story of Women and Art (2014, 2015)

The Story of Women and Art – a mini-series in three parts – was shown on British television (BBC) in 2014 and released on DVD in 2015. Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced and directed by John Hodgson (episodes 1 and 3); by Deborah Lee (episode 2)

** Written and presented by Amanda Vickery

** Run time: 3 x 59 = 177 minutes

Amanda Vickery (born 1962) is professor of early modern history at Queen Mary, University of London. She is the author of several books and articles. Her mini-series The Story of Women and Power was shown on British television (BBC) in 2015 and released on DVD in 2016

In this series, she wants to tell us “the hidden history of how women painted the soul and crafted the fabric of the world around us.”

The three episodes follow a chronological line:

** Episode 1 covers the 16th and the 17th centuries – we are in Italy, Spain and Holland

** Episode 2 covers the 18th century – we are in Britain and France

** Episode 3 covers the 19th and the 20th centuries – we are in Britain, France, Sweden, and the US

As you can see, this is the history of art in the western world. There is nothing about the history of art in Asia or Africa. I want to mention this fact, but I do not want to complain about it.

If you ask me, Amanda Vickery has chosen some good examples. We have artists from different periods and from different countries. We also have artists who worked in different fields: paintings, sculptures, paper cuttings, fashion design, and even garden design.

Amanda Vickery visits the places where the female artists lived and worked and she shows us some of the products that they created. She has a good eye for detail. When she shows us a painting, she will not merely give us a glimpse of the whole thing. She will focus on a small detail and explain its significance.

It is a good approach, a good method, because it means that the history of these female artists is not only told, it is also shown. She deals with the visual aspect in a good way.

In episode 1, we meet the following artists:

** Properzia de Rossi, 1490-1530

** Sister Plautilla Nelli, 1523/1524-1587/1588

** Sofonisba Anguissola, 1532-1625

** Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614

** Artemisa Gentileschi, 1593-1653

** Clara Peeters, ca. 1594- ca. 1657

** Joanna Koerten, 1650-1715

** Judith Leyster, 1609-1660

** Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717

During this episode, there are interviews with the following experts:

** Antonella Mampieri, sculptural historian

** Linda Falcone, Advancing Women Artist Foundation

** Caroline Murphy, author of a biography of Lavinia Fontana

** Sheila Barker, the Medici Archive Project

** Hannah Oud-Biemold, papercut artist

** Ella Reitsma, author of a biography of Maria Sibylla Merian

In episode 2, we meet the following artists:

** Elisabeth “Betty” Radcliffe, ca. 1735- ca. 1810

** Mary Moser, 1744-1819

** Angelica Kauffmann, 1741-1807

** Anne Seymour Damer, 1748-1828

** Anna Maria Garthwaite, 1688/1690-1763

** Rose Bertin, 1747-1813

** Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1755-1842

During this episode, there are interviews with the following experts:

** Clare Barlow, curator, National Portrait Gallery

** Fanny Wilkes, who works in a designer shop in Paris

** Juliette Trey, curator, Versailles

In episode 3, we meet the following artists:

** Elizabeth Southerden Thompson Butler, 1846-1933

** Berthe Morisot, 1841-1895

** Gertrude Jekyll, 1843-1932

** Karin Bergöö Larsson, 1859-1928

** Madelaine Vionnet, 1876-1975

** Georgia O’Keeffe, 1887-1986

During this episode, there are interviews with the following experts:

** Arabella Dorman, war artist

** Jennifer Scott, curator, Royal Collection Trust

** Jay Vincze, impressionist and modern art, Christie’s

** Mikael Alm, professor of history, Uppsala University

** Matts Nilsson, product design strategist, IKEA

** Florence Müller, fashion historian

** Pamela Golbin, author of a biography of Madelaine Vionnet

** Dr Carolyn Kastner, curator, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

** Cody Hartley, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Amanda Vickery has created a passionate, personal and powerful program about a long line of female artists in the western world from the 16th to the 20th century. The camera-work (cinematography) is excellent. And the musical score supports the story-line very well. It is well done. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

If you are interested in the history of the modern world – in particular the history of art and the role female artists have played in it – this program is definitely something for you.

PS # 1. Vigée Le Brun by Katharine Baetjer, Joseph Baillio and Paul Lang is an exhibition catalogue published in 2016 by Yale University Press for the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (colloquially known as “the Met”) in connection with a recent exhibition held at this museum.

PS # 2. The following article about Pamela Golbin is available online: Suzanne Owens, “Expat lives: A sense for style,” Financial Times, 23 June 2012.

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