Focus

1937: The Year for Women Artists in Paris
Parisian scene of the early 20th century
10.07.2020 | Nina Meisel

Romaine Brooks, Le Trajet, ca. 1911, oil on canvas, 115.2 x 191.4 cm, 45 3/8 x 75 3/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum

The inter-war period was a promising environment for the promotion of women on the cultural scene, and 1937 marked its apogee. That year two major events symbolised the promotion of women creators in the French capital: Femme artistes d’Europe (Women artists of Europe), exhibited at the Jeu de Paume from 11 to 28 February, and the Universal Exposition from 25 May to 25 November. However, this was not the first time that works by women were shown in Paris at major international events: for example, the Swedish painter Hanna Hirsch-Pauli (1862-1940) had presented her work at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, and the French artist Georges Achille-Fould (1865-1951) exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Women Artists of Europe at the Jeu de Paume was one of the first international exhibitions entirely dedicated to women. In the selection made by Laure Albin Guillot (1879-1962), photographer and co-founder of the Société des Artistes Photographes, all disciplines blended together to reflect the plurality of practices paying tribute to the inventiveness of women creators. In painting, the modernity of Romaine Brooks (1874-1970) was seen in the similarity of her male and female nudes. Practitioners of Cubism such as Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) and Alice Halicka (1895-1975) further strengthened the group of painters. The sculptures of Chana Orloff (1888-1968), as well as the cinematographic rendering of the paintings of Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) illustrated the involvement of women in contemporary artistic trends.

The Universal Exposition was organised in national pavilions dispersed throughout Paris so that each country could promote its technical and cultural innovations. First, women artists responded to commissions for the decoration of these sites, where the goal was to awaken patriotic sentiment: Marie Raymond (1908-1989) created a fresco for the regional pavilion of the Alpes-Maritimes, and Odette Pauvert (1876-1967) – already known for her decorative frescoes for schools – decorated two other pavilions. On the Champ de Mars the buildings of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union faced each other, the first marked by an imposing imperial eagle and the second proudly crowned by the couple of the Worker and the Kolkhozian. This sculpture by Vera Ignatevna Mukhina (1889-1953) became a recurring image of Eastern Bloc patriotism.

Female artists were also present at the various exhibitions organised during the event, although they remained in the minority compared to the men. Sculptor Germaine Richier (1902-1959) received several medals of honour for her allegory of the Mediterranean, and Polish-French artist Mela Muter (1876-1967) was awarded the gold medal for her expressionist work. Female artists were even invited to take part in event’s the organisation. L. Albin Guillot worked in tandem with Louis-Victor Emmanuel Sougez (1889-1972) to set up the Photographic Creation section.

This encouraging parenthesis for women artists closed rapidly. In the aftermath the Second World War it wasn’t until the 1970s, and more precisely 1975 – the UN-decreed International Women’s Year – that the work of women artists was shown in an exhibition of similar scale to that of 1937:  Femmes au présent : Exposition internationale itinérante d’art contemporain (Women of today: International travelling exhibition of contemporary art, 1975-1976). It was only twenty years later that the first exhibition highlighting women artists’ political and feminist declarations was organised at the Magasin-Centre National d’art Contemporain in Grenoble: Vraiment: féminisme et art (1997).

Artists
Explore the artists
1874 — Italy | 1970 — France
Romaine Brooks - AWARE

Romaine Brooks

1895 — Poland | 1975 — France
Alice Halicka - AWARE

Alice Halicka

1888 — Ukraine | 1968 — Israel
Chana Orloff - AWARE

Chana Orloff

1898 — Poland | 1980 — Mexico
Tamara de Lempicka - AWARE

Tamara de Lempicka

1908 — 1989 | France
Marie Raymond - AWARE

Marie Raymond

1903 — 1966 | France
Odette Pauvert - AWARE

Odette Pauvert

1889 — Latvia | 1953 — Russia
Vera  Moukhina - AWARE

Vera Moukhina

1902 — 1959 | France
Germaine Richier - AWARE

Germaine Richier

1876 — Poland | 1967 — France
Mela Muter - AWARE

Mela Muter

1881 — Spain | 1932 — France
María Blanchard - AWARE

María Blanchard

1866 — 1932 | France
Jacqueline Marval - AWARE

Jacqueline Marval

1879 — 1961 | United Kingdom
Vanessa Bell - AWARE

Vanessa Bell

1862 — 1946 | Finland
Helene Schjerfbeck - AWARE

Helene Schjerfbeck

1891 — Netherlands | 1955 — Norway
Charley Toorop - AWARE

Charley Toorop

1885 — 1948 | Sweden
Sigrid  Hjertén - AWARE

Sigrid Hjertén

1881 — Russia | 1962 — France
Natalia Gontcharova - AWARE

Natalia Gontcharova

1902 — 1995 | Spain
Maruja Mallo - AWARE

Maruja Mallo

1907 — 1975 | Germany
Hanna Nagel - AWARE

Hanna Nagel

1911 — Denmark | 1984 — France
Sonja Ferlov Mancoba - AWARE

Sonja Ferlov Mancoba

1859 — 1935 | France
Virginie Demont-Breton - AWARE

Virginie Demont-Breton

1869 — 1937 | France
Clémentine-Hélène Dufau - AWARE

Clémentine-Hélène Dufau

1902 — 1988 | Argentina
Raquel Forner - AWARE

Raquel Forner

1910 — Palestina | 1999 — Israel
Sima Slonim - AWARE

Sima Slonim

1913 — 1994 | United States
Helen Phillips - AWARE

Helen Phillips

1908 — 2004 | Spain
Francis Bartolozzi (Pitti) - AWARE

Francis Bartolozzi (Pitti)

1905 — Turkey | 1938 — France
Hale Asaf - AWARE

Hale Asaf

1889 — 1970 | Peru
Elena Izcue - AWARE

Elena Izcue

1913 — 1991 | Hungary
Margit Anna - AWARE

Margit Anna

1884 — 1982 | France
Juliette Roche - AWARE

Juliette Roche

1910 — 1993 | France
Jacqueline Lamba - AWARE

Jacqueline Lamba

1899 — Germany | 1998 — United States
Ilse Bing - AWARE

Ilse Bing

1896 — Romania | 1971 — France
Jeanne Coppel - AWARE

Jeanne Coppel

1904 — Belarus | 1982 — France
Nadia Khodossiévitch-Léger - AWARE

Nadia Khodossiévitch-Léger

1904 — Estonia | 1993 — Sweden
Karin  Luts - AWARE

Karin Luts

1890 — 1985 | United States
Grace Albee - AWARE

Grace Albee

1892 — Russia | 1984 — United Kingdom
Marevna - AWARE

Marevna

1907 — Georgia | 1988 — France
Vera Pagava - AWARE

Vera Pagava

1909 — 1994 | Cyprus
Loukia Nicolaidou - AWARE

Loukia Nicolaidou

1882 — Poland | 1973 — France
Sarah Lipska - AWARE

Sarah Lipska

1888 — 1969 | Norway
Charlotte Wankel - AWARE

Charlotte Wankel

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