The Voices of Women Artists

by Wendy Slatkin

Book Overview

Wendy Slatkin offers readers an anthology of 30 edited, excerpted texts by women painters and sculptors from the 19th and 20th centuries. Concise introductions provide key background information concerning the biographies of the artists and the cultural context in which they lived, and issues of historical art are integrated with literary history to define the matrix for these writings.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0139514279
• ISBN13: 9780139514272
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Exceptional reference!

Wendy Slatkin has compiled one of the most interesting academic works I have ever had the pleasure to read. I was delighted to find some valuable instruction for considering the content in the introductory section of The Voices of Women Artists. In five short pages, Slatkin gives the reader a miniature primer to guide the study of women as artists, writers, motivators, philosophers, critics, teachers and cultural informers. I was searching for information on German-born sculptor, Eva Hesse, when I picked up this book. The portion of commentary that illuminated Hesse's life and work was well written and interesting but Slatkin turned over new ground for me by commenting on the importance of vocabulary to address the abstract. Without some common vernacular it would be impossible to discuss Hesse or any other artist, especially those that deviate from convention. The author comments on Hesse's traumatic childhood, her classical training and her growing fascination with absurdity and the combination of opposites. My own search aside, this book is a veritable tresure - its wealth proved by sheer volume if nothing else. An exemplary number artists - who also happen to be female - are showcased in Slatikin's work. It's difficult to find such a well written, engaging and relevant work.