The Female Gaze by ACC Art Books

The Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women

EDITED BY

Robert Cozzolino

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY

Glenn Adamson Linda Lee Alter Anna C. Chave Robert Cozzolino Anna Havemann Joanna Gardner-Huggett Melanie Anne Herzog Janine Mileaf Mey-Yen Moriuchi Jodi Throckmorton Michele Wallace

T H E P E N N S Y LVA N I A A C A D E M Y O F T H E F I N E A R T S 2012

The Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women

EDITED BY

Robert Cozzolino

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY

Glenn Adamson Linda Lee Alter Anna C. Chave Robert Cozzolino Anna Havemann Joanna Gardner-Huggett Melanie Anne Herzog Janine Mileaf Mey-Yen Moriuchi Jodi Throckmorton Michele Wallace

T H E P E N N S Y LVA N I A A C A D E M Y O F T H E F I N E A R T S 2012

Contents

D I R ECTO R ’S FO R E WO R D

Harry Philbrick, PAFA Museum Director 00

P E R SO N AL N OT E

Anna C. Chave, Professor of Art History at Queens College

AP P R EC I AT I O N

and the Graduate Center, City University of New York

I N T RO D UCT I O N AN D AC K N OW LE D G E M E N TS

Robert Cozzolino, Senior Curator and Curator of Modern Art, PAFA 00

Plates

SIST ER S D O IN ’ IT FO R T HEMSELVES: CO LLA B O R AT IVE PR ACT IC E IN T HE LIN DA LEE A LT ER CO LLECT IO N

A V I S I O N O F V I S I B I LI T Y: LI N DA LE E ALT E R IN

Joanna Gardner-Huggett, Associate Professor of Art

CO N V E R SAT I O N W I T H RO B E RT COZ ZO LI NO

History, DePaul University

E X PAN D E D H O R I ZO N : F E M ALE ART I STS AT T HE

Robert Cozzolino

P E N N SYLVAN I A ACAD E MY D UR I N G T H E CO U R SE O F T HE N I N E T E E N T H - C E N T URY

Anna Havemann, University of Potsdam

Plates

E V E N I N G S : E N T E RTAI N I N G WOM E N I N T HE C IRC LES O F

FEMIN ISM IN T HE BAY A R EA : JOA N B ROWN A N D

AM E R I CAN MO D E R N I S M

VIO LA FR EY

Janine Mileaf, Director, The Arts Club of Chicago

Jodi Throckmorton Associate Curator at the San Jose Museum of Art

I M AG I N G H I STO RY, M E MO RY, AN D T H E RAC ED A N D G E N D E R E D B O DY: T H E LEG ACY O F E LI Z AB ET H CAT LET T

Melanie Anne Herzog, Edgewood College, Madison, WI 00

PHILA D ELPHIA FO C U S A N D FEMIN ISM IN 1974

“WOMEN ’S WO R K” R EVISIT ED : C R A FT T R A D IT IO N S IN CO N T EMPO R A RY A RT

Glenn Adamson, Deputy Head of Research and Head of

Plates

Graduate Studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum 00

WE CA ME TO A MER ICA

Michele Wallace, Professor of English, Women’s Studies and Film Studies, CUNY Graduate Center, New York 00

Plates

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ARTISTS

Mey-Yen Moriuchi, doctoral candidate, Bryn Mawr College

FEMIN ISM, ID EN T IT Y, A N D SELF-R EPR ESEN TAT IO N : SELF-PO RT R A IT U R E R E-IMAGIN ED

Author Name 00

Robert Cozzolino

David R. Brigham, PAFA President 00

A STAT E O F IN D EPEN D EN C E IN C HICAGO

THE L INDA L EE ALTER COL L ECTION OF ART BY WOMEN

SEL ECTED BIBL IOGRAPHY

INDEX

Contents

D I R ECTO R ’S FO R E WO R D

Harry Philbrick, PAFA Museum Director 00

P E R SO N AL N OT E

Anna C. Chave, Professor of Art History at Queens College

AP P R EC I AT I O N

and the Graduate Center, City University of New York

I N T RO D UCT I O N AN D AC K N OW LE D G E M E N TS

Robert Cozzolino, Senior Curator and Curator of Modern Art, PAFA 00

Plates

SIST ER S D O IN ’ IT FO R T HEMSELVES: CO LLA B O R AT IVE PR ACT IC E IN T HE LIN DA LEE A LT ER CO LLECT IO N

A V I S I O N O F V I S I B I LI T Y: LI N DA LE E ALT E R IN

Joanna Gardner-Huggett, Associate Professor of Art

CO N V E R SAT I O N W I T H RO B E RT COZ ZO LI NO

History, DePaul University

E X PAN D E D H O R I ZO N : F E M ALE ART I STS AT T HE

Robert Cozzolino

P E N N SYLVAN I A ACAD E MY D UR I N G T H E CO U R SE O F T HE N I N E T E E N T H - C E N T URY

Anna Havemann, University of Potsdam

Plates

E V E N I N G S : E N T E RTAI N I N G WOM E N I N T HE C IRC LES O F

FEMIN ISM IN T HE BAY A R EA : JOA N B ROWN A N D

AM E R I CAN MO D E R N I S M

VIO LA FR EY

Janine Mileaf, Director, The Arts Club of Chicago

Jodi Throckmorton Associate Curator at the San Jose Museum of Art

I M AG I N G H I STO RY, M E MO RY, AN D T H E RAC ED A N D G E N D E R E D B O DY: T H E LEG ACY O F E LI Z AB ET H CAT LET T

Melanie Anne Herzog, Edgewood College, Madison, WI 00

PHILA D ELPHIA FO C U S A N D FEMIN ISM IN 1974

“WOMEN ’S WO R K” R EVISIT ED : C R A FT T R A D IT IO N S IN CO N T EMPO R A RY A RT

Glenn Adamson, Deputy Head of Research and Head of

Plates

Graduate Studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum 00

WE CA ME TO A MER ICA

Michele Wallace, Professor of English, Women’s Studies and Film Studies, CUNY Graduate Center, New York 00

Plates

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ARTISTS

Mey-Yen Moriuchi, doctoral candidate, Bryn Mawr College

FEMIN ISM, ID EN T IT Y, A N D SELF-R EPR ESEN TAT IO N : SELF-PO RT R A IT U R E R E-IMAGIN ED

Author Name 00

Robert Cozzolino

David R. Brigham, PAFA President 00

A STAT E O F IN D EPEN D EN C E IN C HICAGO

THE L INDA L EE ALTER COL L ECTION OF ART BY WOMEN

SEL ECTED BIBL IOGRAPHY

INDEX

Sisters Doin’ It for Themselves: Collaborative Practice in the Linda Lee Alter Collection Joanna Gardner-Huggett

The Linda Lee Alter collection not only displays the vast, rich and varied artistic practices of women artists over the last century in the United States, but it also reveals a second historical narrative. When moving beyond the individual production of the women featured in this collection, it is compelling how many participated in networks committed to promoting women artists as a way to counter their marginalization by art world institutions.1 For more than a century, women have come together in separatist communities to find safe and empowering spaces to develop their art, learn skills needed to advertise and sell their work and a place for dialogue with fellow artists. It is not surprising that this underlying historical thread exists given Alter’s founding of the Leeway Foundation in 1993, which is committed to promoting women and trans artists in the Philadelphia area using their art for social change.2 There is a perception that women artists’ groups only originated in the early 1970s as a result of feminist political campaigns. However, separatist arts organizations began as early as the second half of the 19th century in the United States.3 The Chicago based Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977), for example, participated in the Women Artists’ Salon exhibition in 1952. This group formed in 1937, interestingly at a moment when many female artists experienced rare independence and financial support due to the Federal Art Project. Abercrombie and June Wayne both worked for its Easel Program where they were given a monthly stipend in exchange for turning in at least one painting each month. This salary permitted the artists to pay their rent and purchase supplies and ultimately meant that they were able to puruse their art full-time.4 Nevertheless, many female artists in Chicago felt that despite this freedom, an organization was still needed. Founded by Abercrombie’s peers, Macena Barton, Lucy Hartrath, Pauline Palmer, Winifred Pleimling, and Julia Thecla, they organized an annual exhibition often

D E PAU L U N I V E R S I T Y

Sisters Doin’ It for Themselves: Collaborative Practice in the Linda Lee Alter Collection Joanna Gardner-Huggett

D E PAU L U N I V E R S I T Y

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

ARTIST NAME (B. 19XX)

ARTIST NAME (19XX–19XX)

A R T I S T N A M E ( B . 1 9 X X )

Biographical text. to run an art school

Biographical text. This issue is not well

Biographical text. This issue is not

Biographical text. This issue is not well

in the United States and occupied the

addressed in the existing literature, but

well addressed in the existing lit-

addressed in the existing literature,

site that would become the Wom-

Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history

erature, but Jenni Sorkin recently

but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the

an’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973.

of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first

explored the history of Nelbert Choui-

history of Nelbert Chouinard who was

This issue is not well addressed in

woman to run an art school in the United

nard who was the first woman to run

the first woman to run an art school

the existing literature, but Jenni Sor-

States and occupied the site that would

an art school in the United States and

in the United States and occupied the

kin recently explored the history of

become the Woman’s Building in Los Ange-

occupied the site that would become

site that would become the Woman’s

Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school

les in 1973. This issue is not well addressed in the existing literature,

the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not

Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed in

in the United States and occupied the site that would become

but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard

well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently

the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history

the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not

who was the first woman to run an art school in the United States

explored the history of Nelbert. Biographical text. This issue is not

of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school

well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently

and occupied the site that would become the Woman’s Building in

well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently

in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed in the exist-

explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman

Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed in the exist-

explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman

ing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history of Nel-

to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that

ing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history of Nel-

to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that

bert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school in the

would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This

bert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school in the

would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This

United States and occupied the site that would become the Wom-

issue is not well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin

United States and occupied the site that would become the Wom-

issue is not well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin

an’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed.

recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first

an’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed.

recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first

woman to run an art school in the United States and occupied the

woman to run an art school in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not

site that would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles.

well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not well addressed. Biographical text. This issue is not well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that

Title of Work, 19XX

would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This

Media; 00 x 00 inches

issue is not well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin Title of Work, 19XX Media; 00 x 00 inches Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

Title of Work, 19XX

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

Media; 00 x 00 inches

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

recently explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first

Title of Work, 19XX

woman to run an art school in Los Angeles in 1973. This issue is not

Media; 00 x 00 inches

well addressed in the existing literature, but Jenni Sorkin recently

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

explored the history of Nelbert Chouinard who was the first woman

P L AT E 0 0

to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that

Media; 00 x 00 inches

would become the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. This

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

issue is not well addressed.

P L AT E 0 0

ARTIST NAME (B. 19XX)

Biographical text. This issue is not well addressed in the existing literature,

Title of Work, 19XX Media; 00 x 00 inches Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

Title of Work, 19XX

but Jenni Sorkin recently explored the

Media; 00 x 00 inches

history of Nelbert Chouinard who was

Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

P L AT E 0 0

Title of Work, 19XX

Media; 00 x 00 inches Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00

Title of Work, 19XX

P L AT E 0 0

Media; 00 x 00 inches Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, 0.0.00 26

the first woman to run an art school in the United States and occupied the site that would become the Woman’s