The Lost Sisterhood aims to bring attention to the artistic achievements of a select group of American women artists living at the turn of the twentieth century. Although many women artists of this period enjoyed recognition for their expertise during their own lifetimes, many would agree that in recent years, these artists have not received the recognition they justly deserve.¹

In a groundbreaking essay published nearly forty years ago, the renowned art historian Linda Nochlin, boldly posed the question, "Why have there been no great women artists?"² Dr. Nochlin’s work encouraged historians to thoughtfully re-evaluate women artists and their role in the narrative of art history. Although Nochlin recognized the importance of innate aptitude in the development of artistic genius, she also emphasized that instances of such genius occur within social structures. Nochlin stated that:

...the total situation of art making, both in terms of the development of the art maker and in the nature and quality of the work of art itself, occur in a social situation, are integral elements of this social structure, and are mediated and determined by specific and definable social institutions. ³

During the years following the Civil War, American women began to gain access to the types of social structures and "The landscape of Gilded Age and Progressive Era women's history looks significantly different than it has often been portrayed..." ~Kirsten Swinthinstitutions Nochlin referred to - including the academy and a community of patrons. Thousands of women pursued professional artistic careers during this era and represented a significant cultural and artistic force. According to census statistics,the percentage of women among all professional artists increased from 10 percent to nearly 50 percent between 1870 and 1890.⁴ In a recent book entitled Painting Professionals: Women Artists and the Development of Modern American Art , 1870-1930, historian Kirsten Swinth states that “By 1890, commentators and critics claimed that women were winning the “race” for art and outpacing men in their achievement.”⁵ In Swinth’s words, the “landscape of Gilded Age and Progressive Era women’s history looks significantly different than it has often been portrayed.”⁶ By highlighting the achievements of a select group of artists, this website aims to illuminate in some small way the more complete historical portrayal Swinth and other historians have just begun to create.

Currently, this site features the work of six nineteenth-century American women artists including Cecilia Beaux, Mary Elizabeth Macomber, Lydia Field Emmettt, Ellen Day Hale, Marie Danforth Page, and Mary Fairchild MacMonnies Low. The Lost Sisterhood will continue to feature new artist profiles as well as updates to existing profiles and other pertinent information. The site also invites visitors to comment on and contribute to the history being shared here.

 

Notes:

¹ Many professional American women artists living in the late nineteenth century enjoyed highly successful careers. For example, Cecilia Beaux became the first woman to teach full-time at the Pennsylvania Academy and Mary Fairchild MacMonnies Low became the first female faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis.

² Linda Nochlin. "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" ARTnews January 1971: 22-39, 67-71.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Kirsten Swinth, Swinth, Painting Professionals: Women Artists and the Development of Modern American Art, 1870-1930 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001), back cover.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.