Seminars
Participants are taught in small seminar groups of up to 10 students, and receive two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor.
Sunday
Seminar 1
Introduction: history and historiography. Taking Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay, ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ as our start point, this seminar will discuss the study and portrayal of historic women artists. We will also set the scene by looking at the political, economic, social, and cultural context of Victorian Britain.
Seminar 2
Art Schools and Training. Training was fundamental to professional artistic practice. This session will look at the options available to women, the role of life drawing, and women’s campaigns and initiatives to secure access to training.
Monday
Seminar 3
Institutions and Exhibitions. The grand exhibition was the cornerstone of the Victorian art world, at which reputations were made and commercial connections forged. In this session we will look at women’s participation in exhibitions, their exclusion from and ultimate admission to exhibiting institutions such as the Royal Academy, and the alternative routes they pursued to exhibit and sell their work.
Seminar 4
Watercolour. Watercolour was a medium traditionally associated with women, but paradoxically, women watercolour artists found few opportunities to exhibit and sell their work. This session will look at leading watercolour artists such as Barbara Bodichon, Helen Allingham, and Rose Barton, and consider the strategies they adopted to further their careers.
Tuesday
Seminar 5
Sculpture. Dirty, heavy, necessitating studio space and tools, sculpture was seen as a male preserve, yet some Victorian women established successful careers as sculptors. This session will discuss the works of sculptors such as Mary Thornycroft and Harriet Hosmer, and how they navigated the barriers associated with this medium.
Seminar 6
Needlework and craft. From Mary Linwood’s ‘needle paintings’ to Arts & Crafts metalwork, this seminar will explore women’s artistic contributions in a variety of media traditionally excluded from ‘fine’ art. We will consider practices of exclusion and resistance, and how women artists used these media to turn traditional gender expectations to their advantage.
Wednesday
Seminar 7
The Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. Excluded from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood by its very definition, women were nevertheless integral to the movement as artists, models, muses, and facilitators. This seminar will focus on the women artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, both in its earliest years and later generations.
Seminar 8
Photography. In this seminar we will consider the career of Julia Margaret Cameron and other pioneering women photographers as they sought to establish successful commercial careers in this new medium.
Thursday
Seminar 9
Student presentations. Students will be invited to give a short presentation on an artist of their choice, considering her life and work in light of the week’s discussions.
Seminar 10
Visit to Ashmolean Museum Print Room
Friday
Seminar 11
Women artists and feminist activism. Many women artists were active within the suffrage movement, while others used their art to campaign for women’s rights. This seminar will discuss women artists’ participation in campaigns for women’s emancipation.
Seminar 12
Student presentations and discussion. Remaining presentations from session 9. We will close the week with a discussion of the themes covered, and revisit Linda Nochlin’s essay in light of the week’s learning.
Programme timetable
The daily timetable will normally be as follows:
Saturday
14.00–16.30 - Registration
16.30–17.00 - Orientation meeting
17.00–17.30 - Classroom orientation for tutor and students
17.30–18.00 - Drinks reception
18.00–20.00 - Welcome dinner
Sunday – Friday
09.00–10.30 - Seminar
10.30–11.00 - Tea/coffee break
11.00–12.30 - Seminar
12.30–13.30 - Lunch
13.30–18.00 - Afternoons are free for tutorials, individual study, course-related field trips or exploring the many places of interest in and around Oxford.
18.00–19.00 - Dinner (there is a formal gala dinner every Friday to close each week of the programme).
A range of optional social events will be offered throughout the summer school. These are likely to include: a quiz night, visit to historic pubs in Oxford, visit to Christ Church for Evensong and after-dinner talks and discussions.
