Women art students in America: An historical study of academic art instruction during the nineteenth century

Art historians have suggested that one reason for the small number of women artists prior to the twentieth century was limited access to appropriate artistic instruction. Current art historical texts on nineteenth-century American art have given very little attention to women artists of the period. It was the researcher's goal in the present study to determine if a lack of appropriate educational opportunities was one explanation for the obscurity of nineteenth-century American women artists. Therefore, the purpose of the research was to analyze academic art training for American women during the past century. The study examined four nineteenth-century art schools: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and the Corcoran School of Art. All four schools employed the French academic model for art instruction. The "academic" approach to art training emphasized drawing instruction in which elementary students copied plaster casts of antique Greek and Roman statues; advanced students drew from live, usually nude, models. The research focused on the curriculum, faculty, student competitions, and the educational environment of each program as it pertained to women's art education. The research findings indicated that American academic art schools during the nineteenth century provided women students with thorough and rigorous academic art instruction and that there were only minor differences in the curricular course of study for men and for women. The researcher did uncover specific instances of racism, sexual harassment, gender stereotyping, and restrictive social attitudes. However, even with these occurrences, the four schools under study provided women art students with comprehensive training, professional opportunities, and personal support. There was relative equality in the educational environment for male and female students. Although the study did not cover nineteenth-century European art schools, the surprising implication was that the American schools were far more progressive and offered greater opportunities than their European counterparts. Therefore, the conclusion of the study was that a lack of appropriate education cannot be adduced as the reason for the obscurity of nineteenth-century American women artists.