Discuss the following questions.

Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, what subject matter choices were available to women artists? What cultural and historical influences placed limitations on their choices? What subject matter choices were not available to women artists and how did this impact on women's success as artists in the mainstream art world at that time? Include references to specific artists and their work in your discussion. 

Instruction:

Answers in the form of essay will be based on course material and readings. In your essays, you are encouraged to refer to examples of artists and cite references.

This unit considers the lives and works of women artists from the turn of the century, and a time when the art world was changing dramatically, to the end of modernism. The contribution made by these artists to modernism and the degree to which this contribution was recognized or acknowledged is discussed. Part One of the unit covers the period from 1890 to 1920, and Part Two looks at a number of significant women artists of the twentieth century whose careers spanned the period from 1920 to the 1960's and who worked within the tenets of what is now considered to be modernism.

The two parts of this unit are:

PART I The Extent of Women Artists' Participation in the New Art Movements

PART II Women Artists from 1920's to the 1960's