A World of Our Own: Women as Artists Since the Renaissance
Bloody-mindedness inspired this book. Women were forbidden to attend art schools until the end of the nineteenth century and social convention and religious teaching frowned on them working. And yet for centuries women had practised as artists.How did they do it? I wanted to show how they overcame these difficulties by turning the focus away from women as victims of the exclusionary tactics of the art establishment to women as determined to get a training and a career for themselves. The story offers glimpses of the changes in artistic and social attitudes over the centuries, culminating in today’s right to education for all.
‘This refreshingly optimistic book then takes off on a heartening tour of how the other side worked. She shows us how women artists through the ages fought the taboos, wriggled round restrictions, then, with spirit and determination, got on with the job.’ Sally Cline, Literary Review, Oct.2000