This course considers the unique challenges women who aspired to be artists and patrons faced in Europe between c.1500 and 1700. Examining the careers of individual artists demonstrates the diverse strategies women used to access training, market their skills, and otherwise advance their artistic careers. We will see how women patrons had to overcome similar obstacles to establish themselves as knowledgeable collectors of art. The course further interrogates the reasons why women artists and patrons were forgotten or outright erased from academic art history. While European women artists form the backbone of the course, case studies of non-European women artists from the early modern period will also be analyzed. Readings will include seminal texts by feminist art historians as well as current research generated by women-focused exhibitions.
