The "new woman" in fin-de-siécle art: Frances and Margaret MacDonald
Date
2018-06-26
Authors
Helland, Janice Valerie
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Abstract
Scottish artists Margaret and Frances Macdonald
produced their most innovative art during the last decade of
the nineteenth century. They received their training at the
Glasgow School of Art and became known for their
contribution to "the Glasgow Style," Scotland's answer to
Continental Art nouveau and Symbolism. Although they
inherited their visual vocabulary from the male-dominated
language of the fin-de-siècle, they produced representations
of women that differed from those made by their male
colleagues. I suggest that these representations were
informed by the female experience and that they must be
understood as such if we, as historians, are to discuss
their art. Like many other women artists from this period,
the Macdonalds relied heavily upon so-called feminine
imagery. This could be flower painting, "dainty"
landscapes, pictures of children or pictures of "lovely"
women. The Macdonalds strayed from conventional meaning,
however, and made pictures of women that, while retaining
the mystery of symbolism, presented the viewer with
contextually accurate representations of women who were
bound and restricted by a society that had not yet allowed
women the vote. I suggest that these representations be
considered in the light of recent theoretical developments
in feminist literary criticism and feminist film theory
which give credence to women as producers of culture while remaining
aware that culture is a patriarchal construction. My contention is
that if we can comprehend the patriarchal construct of woman during
the fin-de-siècle then we may be able to understand how the
Macdonalds (and other women like them) strayed from this
representation and made their own images (perhaps in their own
likeness or at least in the likeness of their situation). Knowledge
about how women's experience was integrated into the visual language
may lead us to a greater understanding of that experience and its
subsequent production as art and, in addition, may bring about a
greater valuation of women's experience and its representation.
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Keywords
Art nouveau, Scotland, Women in art, Women artists, Scotland