IN PERSON: “The art of painting is mostly alien to the feminine mind and cannot be attained without that great intellectual concentration which women, as a rule, are slow to acquire.” —Boccaccio, "On Famous Women," 1375. This lecture-based course considers and celebrates the unusual careers of exceptional women painters and sculptors who defied the social and cultural “rules” of the early modern era to become artists of note. Some excelled in portraiture and still lifes, subjects considered suitable for females, for example, Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Giovanna Garzoni and Louise Moillon. Others took on the challenge of large-scale narrative subjects, thus breaching creative territory deemed the prerogative of males, for example, Lavinia Fontana, Elisabetta Sirani, Fede Galizia and Artemisia Gentileschi. Students will gain an understanding of the significant contributions to painting and sculpture made by these early modern women artists despite societal constraints. | Lecture + Q&A.
Max enrollment: 30.
Location: Judea Reform Congregation, 1933 W. Cornwallis Rd, Durham NC 27705
Carolyn H. Wood has a Ph.D. in art history with a specialty in Renaissance and Baroque art. She taught art history and museum studies at Bowdoin College, the University of Georgia and UNC-Chapel Hill. More recently, Carolyn worked at the Ackland Art Museum for 18 years, serving as educator for university audiences and as assistant director for art and education. She has been teaching OLLI courses since 2013.