Lavinia FONTANA
Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine (1574-1577)
oil on copper
48.7 x 36.6 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 2021
2021.558

Observations: Women in Art and Design History (1500-1960)

A landmark year-long online seminar series, Observations, examines the contributions of women to art and design history. Named after English artist Mary Beale’s 1633 text Observations by MB, which is widely recognised as the first manuscript on painting written by a woman artist, the NGV-curated series features leading historians, writers and curators from around the world. Speakers will explore the work of some of the most significant women in art and design; and the contexts, frameworks and networks that both supported and challenged their respective practices. At the centre of the series is the NGV’s milestone acquisition of Mystic marriage of St Catherine (1574-1577) by Italian artist Lavinia Fontana, who is regarded as the first professional woman painter in Western art history. Now the oldest painting by a named woman artist in the NGV Collection, Mystic marriage of St Catherine is the only work by Fontana in an Australian institution.

The Observations program will be offered as four online seminar streams delivered throughout 2022. Details of each event and booking information are provided below.

Seminar: A studio of her own 1500-1900

A studio of her own explores the period 1500–1900 and the women artists and designers who, despite the many obstacles to their independence, set up professional studios and made successful careers.
Seminar: avant garde beginnings 1900-1930

The early twentieth century was a period of radical social, technological and creative ferment which saw women innovate and experiment with nascent creative spaces such as photography, design and modernism.
Seminar: modern art and design innovators 1930-1960

The third seminar for the year, Modern Art and Design Innovators: 1930-1960, examines the rapidly shifting times of the mid-century, in particular, the women artists and designers who reimagined modernism and exported their radical new ideas across the world.
Symposium: approaches to researching and curating women artists

What does it mean to study the work of women artists in 2022? This symposium invites responses to that question from research higher degree and early career researchers and curators working in the fields of art and art history; museum studies and curatorship; cultural studies; design and other associated disciplines.