In a recent graduate seminar entitled Women Artists in Other Media, my students and I interrogated some common assumptions about women artists in early modern Europe, especially exploring women's engagement with atypical artistic media. Among the many excellent readings we consulted, Elizabeth Sutton's introductory essay for this edited volume was a favorite with many of my students. This short but stimulating collection of seven essays, which originated in an HNA-affiliated session at the Southeast College Art Association conference, challenges traditional approaches to the study of women's roles in Netherlandish art during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Each essay is characterized by this spirit of innovation, raising questions about art historical methods and choice of subjects. Although some essays were arguably more ambitious than others, the book as a whole provides a valuable contribution to the field.
Sutton's inspiring introduction constitutes a veritable call to arms, challenging Netherlandish art historians for both the underrepresentation of women artists and patrons and the patriarchal methods that often limit scholarship. Sutton also thoughtfully addresses the undervaluing of certain artistic media and traditional ideas about separating art from craft in judging what constitutes fine art. Although, regrettably, the book does not include any essays on such marginalized media (such as Martha Peacock's excellent recent essay on the paper-cutter Joanna Koerten), Sutton acknowledges that such studies are often complicated by a poor survival rate. She argues, however, that this issue should not impede our willingness to incorporate women more extensively into scholarship and teaching.
The six essays that follow Sutton's introduction include two on women painters, two on Dutch princesses, and two on women who were involved with printmaking. Céline Talon's examination of Catharina van Hemessen's Self-Portrait provides a detailed discussion of technique, arguing that this work conveys the artist's awareness of contemporary innovations in painting. Nicole Elizabeth Cook considers both Judith Leyster and Gesina ter Borch, discussing their common interest in nocturnal scenes and considering the advantages of nighttime work for creative women (writers and painters) in the period. Cook's distinctions between the guild-affiliated Leyster, who worked for the art market, and the more affluent Ter Borch raise interesting questions about the circumstances for different socioeconomic groups and distinctions between so-called amateurs and professionals that are crucial to the study of women artists.
The two essays on Dutch princesses investigate a patron and an artist. Saskia Beranek discusses Amalia van Solms, Princess of Orange, arguing that the palace of Huis ten Bosch that she commissioned from Pieter Post was intended to celebrate both her late husband and her own power and lineage. Beranek relates Amalia's intentions to those of the legendary Artemisia of Caria, wife of Mausolus. Lindsay Ann Reid investigates Louise Hollandine, a Dutch Protestant princess and the granddaughter of British King James I, who became an artist and a Benedictine nun. Only a few of her paintings are still extant, including a curious self-portrait (fig. 5.1), little-discussed here, that portrays the young artist with a halo and a paintbrush. Most of this essay focuses on Richard Lovelace's commemoration of Hollandine in a poem that connects her, as a creative woman, to Ovid's Arachne.
Two essays on prints challenge some traditional assumptions. Amy Reed Frederick's discussion of the reproductive engraver Magdalena van de Passe explores a woman from a family of printmakers who signed many of her works. Frederick considers the challenges to appreciating women's roles as reproductive artists (an issue for both male and female reproductive printmakers), arguing that the artist herself attempted to assert her originality. Finally, Arthur DiFuria discusses Mayken Verhulst and Volcxken Diericx, whose contributions to the print trade in the Netherlands have long been eclipsed by their better-known husbands, Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Hieronymus Cock. DiFuria's thoughtful arguments join other feminist studies that attempt to broaden our understanding of women's varied contributions to the arts.
The major contributions in this book are principally theoretical and methodological, leaving room for future investigations. The essays all foreground the need for feminist approaches to expanding our understanding of women's contributions to early modern Netherlandish art, offering some strategies for addressing this challenge.
