Women in Art: A Feminist History of Art

Course Programme (subject to possible change)

Week 1: Where have all the women gone?

This introduction to the course begins by asking questions about the politics around representation. We compare John Bratby’s portrait of his wife Jean Cooke with her own portrait of herself and uses this case study to introduce new questions about art, body politics, biography, gender, and power. We also consider the representation of women in galleries, museums, and public space.

Week 2: Radical Beginnings to the female romantic

This week explores the role of women as artists from Guan Daosheng to Artemisia Gentileschi and charts the challenges to ‘stereotypical’ female representation.

Week 3: Modern Life and Gender Rebels

This week we consider the impact of early first wave feminism on female artists of the early C20th avant-garde. This session also focuses on the role of war and social change in shaping female perspectives on Dada and surrealism.

Week 4: Performing Gender

This week explores the feminist discussions of the 1960s and 70s as they impact on the art world before examining the role of conceptual art in relation to feminism. In this session, we engage with the work of Martha Rossler, Adrian Piper, Eleanor Antin and others alongside the growth of new forms of performance art.

Week 5: Young British Female Artists

This week we consider the role of women in the Young British Art Movement, global influences, and the wider impact of movement. Through case studies of Lala Meredith-Vula, Sara Lucas, Rachael Whiteread, and Tracey Emin this session explores the politics of subjectivity in feminism.

Week 6: Architexture and Anti-Domesticity

This week examines the role of women across a variety of mediums from tapestry to architecture in the exploration of interior space. With case studies ranging from Lyndsey Mendick’s anti-domestic sculptures to the Matrix Collective’s designs for houses, we assess the role of women in interior design, homes, and urban space.

Week 7: Queering the Canon

This week explores new debates in intersectionality and uses a case study of Zanele Muholi to consider the relationship between gender identities, race, and class in contemporary art.

Week 8: Framing the Future

In this week’s class, we debate the role of women in today’s art world and the way new forms of performance and digital art intersect with these debates.

Additional Reading

There is no compulsory reading for this course but if you would like to read further on the subject you might enjoy:

1. Katy Hessel, The Story of Art Without Men, Penguin Books, 2022
2. Bell Hooks, ‘’Women Artists’’: The Creative Process’’ in Art on My Mind New York: The New Press, 1995
3. Catherine McCormack, Women in the Picture: Women, Art, and the Power of Looking, Ikon Books, 2021
4. Darby English, How to See A Work of Art in Total Darkness, MIT Press, 2007

Dr Caroline Watkinson is an historian of art, architecture, and political culture. She has written widely on representations of Women Religious, the history of art/architecture, LGBTQ visual culture, and heritage. She is currently researching on the Literary Home in the Visual and Architectural Imagination. Caroline is an experienced tutor and holds AdvanceHE Fellowship. She also teaches and works in the field of heritage and public history and has a keen interest in the representation of the past in museums and art galleries.

Rate Categories and Discounts

Standard Rate

• Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category, respectively.

Internal Rate

• Current Imperial College students and staff (incl. Imperial NHS Trust, Imperial Innovations, ancillary & service staff employed on long-term contracts at Imperial College by third-party contractors)
• People enrolling under our Friends & Family scheme
• Alumni of Imperial College and predecessor colleges and institutes
• Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art and Royal College of Music
• Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School

Associate Rate

• Austrian Cultural Forum staff
• City & Guilds College Association members
• Co-operative College members
• Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and students
• Friends and Patrons of the English Chamber Orchestra
• Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
• Friends of Leighton House/ Sambourne House
• Friends of the Royal College of Music
• Harrods staff
• Historic Royal Palaces staff
• Lycee Charles de Gaulle staff
• Members of the Friends of Imperial College
• Members of the Kennel Club
• Members of the London Zoological Society
• Members of the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI)
• Members of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
• National Health Service (NHS) employees
• Natural History Museum staff
• Residents of postcodes SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 and W8
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council staff
• Royal College of Art and Royal College of Music tutors and other staff
• Royal Geographical Society staff
• Science Museum staff
• Staff of Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) organisations
• Students (non-Imperial College)
• Teachers and other staff of UK schools
• Tutors and other staff of institution members of the Association of Colleges
• Tutors and other staff of other universities and higher education institutions
• Victoria and Albert Museum staff

Late enrolment

It is possible to enrol on many of our adult education courses after the course has already started. For non-language courses this is subject entirely to agreement by the tutor. For language courses it is subject to agreement by the language coordinator conducting level assessment. If you want to join a course late do bear in mind there might be work you will need to catch up on, particularly in language courses.

Friends and Family Scheme

This course is eligible for the  allowing Imperial College students and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.

Web enrolment opens on 1st March 2023

Enrolment and payment run through the Imperial College eStore. When enrolling:

• Do check on the drop down menu above called "Course Fees and Rate Categories" to see if you are eligible for a discounted rate and also do make sure you select that rate when enrolling on the eStore
• If you are a first-time eStore user you will need to create an account before enrolling. You can do this by entering an email address and password. This account can then be used for any future enrolments via the eStore.

When you have enrolled you will be sent the following email notifications:

If you have any questions about the academic content or teaching of this course please contact the Porgramme Manager for Adult Education, Dr Michael Paraskos, at m.paraskos@imperial.ac.uk 

If you have any questions about your enrolment or payment processes please contact the Programme Administrator, Christian Jacobi, eveningclass@imperial.ac.uk