The Women Impressionists: A Sourcebook

This reference organizes and describes the primary and secondary literature surrounding Mary Stevenson Cassat, Berthe Morisot, Eva Gonzales and Marie Bracquemond, four major women Impressionist artists. The Impressionist group included several women artists of considerable ability whose works and lives were largely ignored until the advent of feminist art criticism in the early 1970s. They studied, worked and exhibited with their male counterparts including Degas, Manet, Monet and Pissarro. The entries provide extensive coverage of the careers, critical reception, exhibit history and growing reputations of these four female artists and discuss women Impressionists in general as they shared the challenges of becoming accepted as professional artists in late 19th-century society. Containing nearly 900 citations of manuscripts, books, articles, reproductions, films exhibitions and reviews, this sourcebook should appeal to both art and women’s studies scholars. Each artist receives a biographical sketch, chronology, information about individual and group exhibitions and reviews, and a primary and secondary bibliography, which captures details about the artist’s life, career and relationship with other artists. An art works index and names index complete the volume.