Alice Barber, Women’s Life Class, 1879, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Detail.
From the 17th to the 19th century, art academies across Europe and America excluded women from their classrooms. Only a few of them count as exceptions. These women artists went against sexist rules and fought to be considered as equals to their male peers. Let us look at some of these women in art academies.
Before the 17th century, if someone wanted to be an artist, they would enter a workshop to learn the craft—this was the guild system. Once they learned everything they needed, artists moved on and established their own workshop to receive commissions and train apprentices. However, in the 17th century, academies spread throughout Europe to unify artistic education. In these new schools, every student followed the same curriculum as their peers and learned from the same teachers. This way, painting and sculpture acquired the coveted title of “liberal” (intellectual) arts. Artists were now considered professional, learned men, above artisans. Even though the guilds survived for decades, the Academies grew in importance across Europe.
This new status of painters and sculptors excluded women, who were considered intellectually inferior to men. Part of the reasoning was a supposed care for their reputation; the academies put great emphasis on drawing from life, which meant lessons with naked models. It would have been terrible, socially, for women students to remain in the presence of such a scene. But, if they did not know anatomy, they could not paint realistic human figures. Thus, they could not create history paintings (mythological, religious, historic scenes), the highest-regarded genre. It was a vicious cycle that kept women away from critical acclaim. Most of them could only focus on genre scenes, landscapes, still life, and portraits if they were lucky. In the eyes of the Academy, those were lesser and “easier” genres.
Regardless, some women artists managed to enter the academies and have successful careers.
Italian art academies from the Renaissance served as models for the later ones. Since Italy was not yet unified, several city-states established these schools independently. Florence had the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno since 1562. In 1583, Rome established the Accademia di San Luca. In 1607, it allowed women to become members, but restrictions to the classes and meetings remained. Therefore, women relied on male relatives or family friends to teach them and cultivate their skills before proving their talent to the academicians. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) got into the Florentine academy in 1616.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, 1638-1639, Hampton Court Palace, London, UK.
Similarly, Bologna built an academy at the beginning of the 18th century, also with restrictions on women. In consequence, Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665) established her own independent academy where she taught women students.
Elisabetta Sirani, Self-Portrait, 1658, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia.
The first great academy was the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) in Paris, France, established in 1648. Technically, it did not prohibit admission to women, but its requirements did not give them many opportunities. Every aspiring student had to present a piece to prove their talents. This meant applicants already needed a degree of education that most women did not have access to, especially anatomical knowledge. In total, only 14 women studied at the Royal Academy from 1663 to 1793. They are now remembered as some of the most famous female artists.
Nicolas Loir, Minerva and the Arts. Allegory of the Foundation of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture also known as Progress of the Arts of Drawing in France under the reign of Louis XIV, 17th century, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.
After the Revolution, the new government replaced the Royal Academy with the École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts). This one did not admit women until 1897. Other smaller, more local schools like the Académie de Julian admitted women. However, the tuition was more expensive than that of men and with a limited curriculum.
Portrait of Catherine Duchemin, 1663-1665, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France.
Élisabeth-Sophie Chéron, Self-Portrait, 1672, Musée de Louvre, Paris, France.
Rosalba Carriera, Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister, 1715, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, 1785, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA.
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782, National Gallery, London, UK.
Catherine Duchemin studied in her father’s, Jacques Duchemin’s, workshop. She became the first woman admitted to the Royal Academy, presenting a still life of flowers that impressed the committee.
This portrait was part of the Exposition Universelle of 1878. There is no certainty on the author of the painting. Some think it is a self-portrait, at least the flowers could have been painted by her.
Chéron entered the Royal Academy in 1672, presenting this self-portrait. She trained under her father Henri Chéron. She was extremely well-learned, and often referred to as a Renaissance woman. Apart from painting, she was also a poet, musician, polyglot and translator (Latin, Greek and Hebrew). She became the breadwinner of the family after her father abandoned them.
Unfortunately, after Chéron, the Academy prohibited the admittance to women. The excuse was that they did not think any other woman could surpass her. However, author Octave Fidière hypothesized that the Academy was afraid of a “feminine invasion.”
Of course, the Academy could not follow its prohibition on women when Rosalba Carriera came to Paris. By then, her talents had brought her fame, having rejected multiple offers from European leaders to stay in their courts.
In 1720, she became a member of the Royal Academy, even though she was originally a Venetian artist.
In 1776, the guilds were dismantled and the Academy obtained the monopoly of art education and exhibition. They also changed their admittance rules: from then on, only 4 women could enter the Academy.
One of them was Adélaïde Labille-Guiard admitted in 1783. She focused on portraits of important politicians and aristocrats, as well as artists. She became the Painter of Mesdames (the King’s sisters). Moreover, Labille-Guiard exhibited regularly in the Paris Salon.
Another woman admitted in 1783 was Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.
She also focused on portraits. Her most important ones are of queen Marie Antoinette. Due to her royal connections, she fled France during the French Revolution.
The second most important academy was the Royal Academy of Arts in London. King George III established it in 1768. Out of the 38 founding members, only two were women: Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807) and Mary Moser (1744-1819). Queen Charlotte supported their careers, which helped them become part of that founding group. The painting below, however, by Johan Zoffany illustrates how the two women were also excluded still. Since the scene takes place in a life drawing class with a naked model, he could not paint Kauffman and Moser there. He depicted them in two portraits at the top right.
Johan Joseph Zoffany, The Portraits of the Academicians of the Royal Academy, 1771-1772, Royal Collection, London, UK.
Käthe Kollwitz, The Mothers, 1923, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY, USA.
Maria Dillon, Bliss, 1894, Museum Collection, Moscow, Russia.
Alice Barber, Women’s Life Class, 1879, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Dolores Soto, Paisaje, late 19th century, Museo de Arte de Sinaloa, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Julieta de França, Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It was established in 1696, but it took it until 1919 to accept its first female student: Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945). A noteworthy merit, but by then, academic art was a thing of the past.
It started admitting women in the second half of the 19th century. Among them, Maria Lvovna Dillon (1858-1932). She was a sculptor who studied and later taught there.
Contrary to other art academies, this one allowed women to study and exhibit since its establishment in 1805.
Nevertheless, women still had to demand access to life drawing and anatomy classes.
Latin American women who wanted to study in art academies also struggled.
After a civil war and a European intervention in Mexico, a liberal party rose to power. As a result, Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (The National School of Fine Arts) replaced the Academy of San Carlos. In 1888, it allowed women to enter the newly established school.
The first woman to become a student there was Dolores Soto (1869-1964). She focused on landscapes and José María Velasco was her teacher.
This school replaced the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Slowly, women entered the academy in 1892. But it wasn’t until 1897 that a woman could participate in life drawing classes with nude models. Her name was Julieta de França, a sculptor. This photograph shows some of her sketches on the wall.
An argument can be made that all of these advances happened when the institutions were in crisis. As we reached the end of the 19th century, modernism replaced the academic style. At this point, even if women got access to these schools, they would not have the same level of importance as they would the century prior.
Perhaps you know some of these artists already. Today, they are some of the most famous women artists, precisely because there is a record of their work in a formal institution. Women in art academies accessed important social circles to form connections that helped them professionally.
Academic Art, Art Encyclopedia. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
Acquisition du portrait de Catherine Duchemin, Château de Versailles website. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
Elizabeth Cheron, Brooklyn Museum’s website. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
Octave Fidière, Les femmes artistes à l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, 1885, BnF Gallica. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
Royal Academy of Arts, Women and the Royal Academy of Arts, Google Arts & Culture. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
Ursula Tania Estrada López: “The Entrance of Women to the Art Academies in Brazil and Mexico: a Comparative Overview”, (in 19&20), 2015, DezenoveVinte. Accessed: 17 Jan 2024.
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An International Relations graduate and an art lover. I prefer art prior to the 20th century, in general. I'm interested in art from Mexico and by female artists.
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