Women Picturing Women: From Personal Spaces to Public Ventures
Text by Patricia Phagan. (Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, September 21, 2021). Hardcover, 156 pages with 105 color. $40. In February 2021 the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, opened the exhibition Women Picturing Women: From Personal Spaces to Public Ventures. The show, curated by Patricia Phagan, explored “key themes that emerged when selecting only images of women by women artists.” To complement and expand on the exhibition is the new publication titled after the show that was released on September 21.

Artwork, drawn from the museum collection, ranges from the 17th century to nearly the 1960s and shows how women artists portrayed narratives through a female perspective by highlighting themes that were close to their own lives. By selecting artwork by women artists that depict other women, Phagan also removes the male gaze and allows their voices to truly shine off the pages of the book and in the exhibition. The publication includes scholarship on each artist featured and her work. It is divided into five distinct sections—as was the show—focused on portraiture, landscapes, domestic scenes, narratives and documentary photographs. 

Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin (1850-1930), Study of a Head, ca. 1898. Oil on canvas, 22¼ x 16 1/8 in. Gift of the artist, class of 1870. X.16. Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.In the introduction to the publication, Phagan explains the importance of each to call to light the role that women played in all spheres. She writes, “Women chose portraits and domestic scenes overwhelmingly as subjects, as reflected in this informal survey. Given the traditional roles and education of women and girls, home-centered scenes and situations, including views of mothers and children, proliferated in works from the 19th century onward, when most of the works in this exhibition were made. Most of the portraits feature the artist herself, or friends, family members and other favored models.”

The portrait section introduces us to artists such as Elizabeth Reed Coffin, Violet Oakley and Hilda Belcher, a student of Georgia O’Keeffe whose work The Checkered Dress (Portrait of O’Keeffe) is featured on the cover of the book. Included in the short essays on each artist are information on their inspirations, styles and schooling. The artwork featured in the book is also put into context of the artist’s life and oeuvre to provide further context of their place in art history.

Florence Maria Cushing (1853-1927), Untitled (Man and woman at a stream), ca. 1886. Albumen print, 7 5/16 x 4 7/16 in. Anonymous gift, 1998.26. Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.Landscapes were common beginning in the late 18th century, as outlined in the chapter “Idyllic Landscapes: Comfort and Security”. Phagan shares, “Together with the domestic scenes and portraits, these views project a sense of intimacy and an overwhelming sense of privacy that is more often connected to the home, garden or studio than the public aspects that inform them.” 

Florence Maria Cushing was a Vassar graduate and photographer, who was known for her nature imagery. Pictured in this book is the outdoor scene Untitled (Man and woman at a stream) which highlights the albumen photograph process where “for the photograph to be in focus, the figures at the stream would have had to remain still for a few moments, so they very likely cooperated with Cushing in some fashion.”

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822-1902), The Spinner, 1894. Oil on canvas, 27 1/8 x 17 3/8 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Herber Shultz (Barbara H. Rodie, class of 1942). 1982.8. Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.“Domestic Scenes: Private and Personal” offers imagery of domiciles, the work women did on the farm and even images of women with their children. The “Narratives: The Stimulus of Ideas” section shows the more unconventional artistic themes of the time but often related to mythology or religion or to social and political commentary. The photography section highlights the real life moments of women and girls, captured by female photographers.

The exhibition and publication bring awareness to the work of many talented women who have long been overlooked in favor of their male counterparts. By telling the stories of these women and their artwork, Phagan pushes them into the conversation and shares how they too shaped art history. —

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