Project

The project has as essential objectives

1. To establish a theoretical framework that enables not only the scientific knowledge of female artists, but also question the hegemonic narrative of Art History replacing it with a new one, more in line with reality.

2. To analyze the process experienced by female artists of different disciplines (painting, sculpture, photography, illustration, design…) to unravel: what artists were working; which was their artistic training, professional profile and critical reception; the artistic languages they used and how they evolved; and, ultimately, the place they occupied in artistic culture, and how it changed over time.

3. To inquire into the image of women and the femininity that reflected the artistic production of the moment, constructed through the dominant masculine gaze, and to what extent the female artists participated in this one.

To accomplish these objectives, methodology is based on documentary searching and the retrieval and critical analysis of artistic works. An approach that will allow: the definition of a broad list of authors; the reconstruction of the artistic career of the most outstanding ones, recovering for the History of Art those less known; and, a greater knowledge of the artistic production of the time.

The scientific advances achieved will be recorded through scientific publications and conferences, temporary and permanent exhibitions, and other forms of dissemination, including a database. Besides, from the social point of view, incorporating the gender perspective into the History of Art will allow us to contribute to improving the necessary equality policies nowadays.

The research project Women Artists in Spain, 1804-1939 (HAR 2017-84399-P), is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business, the State Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund.