The Story of
Women and Art – a documentary mini-series in three parts – was shown on British television
(BBC) in 2014. 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** Released on DVD in 2015
** 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.
Episode 1 covers 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
In 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
Episode 2 covers 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
In 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
Episode 3 covers 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 (100 percent).
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.
REFERENCES
Great Women Artists
By Phaidon Editors
(2019)
Great Women Painters
By Phaidon Editors
(2022)
*****
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