Art History Women Painters of the West 11/7/22

Making Their Mark: Women Painters of the American West

To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage. ~ Georgia O’Keeffe

Though women have been central to the western American art scene since the 1800s, their stories have often remained on the periphery. In this course, art historian and museum educator Molly Medakovich puts Russell and Remington on the back burner to explore the rich history of female painters and cultural figures in the Euro-American tradition whose contributions to the art world deserve greater recognition. Journey from the 1870s to the mid-20th century greeting familiar faces alongside hidden figures whose creative lives unfolded during a period of tremendous social and cultural change.

Artists increasingly went west after the Civil War, and women joined the rush. Meet those like Colorado artist Helen Henderson Chain, who took to the field to paint mountain landscapes en plein air. Hop on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad to New Mexico, where early 20th-century patrons like Mabel Dodge Luhan held court, and meet Catharine Critcher, the sole female painter of the Taos Society of Artists. Discover Edith Hamlin, whose successful career proved she was much more than Maynard Dixon’s wife. From the Rocky Mountains to the Southwest to California and beyond, learn about these and other creative women who helped shape the vibrant artistic cultures of their time and place.

Along the way, consider evolving cultural expectations for women and how these informed artmaking and professional opportunities across time. From Victorian ladies to modern women, witness the grit and grace they brought to their professional pursuit of painting, and see their courage in living a life beyond expectations.

Georgia O’Keefe, Canyon with Crows

Four Zoom sessions

Mon., Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28, 2022, 6:30–8:30 pm MT ENRICH 0648 / $140

Credit: Catharine C. Critcher

Molly Medakovich is a teaching specialist for lifelong learning programs at the Denver Art Museum, an affiliate faculty member at the University of Denver and an art historian. She holds a PhD in 18th- and 19th-century European art history (with a focus on women artists and gender) and has contributed to exhibitions, published essays, given lectures and led programs focusing on western American art.

See Music of the American West course on page 24.

See American Western History and Geography course on page 25.