Women, Aging, and Art: A Crosscultural Anthology

by Frima Fox Hofrichter (Editor), Midori Yoshimoto (Editor)

Overview

What images come to mind with the words “women”, “aging”, “old”, even “elderly”? Are they stereotypes? Are there any positive associations? The thirteen contributions to this edited volume explore a broad range of images of old women, ranging from medieval “old wives” to contemporary re-imaginations of shamans and witches and empowering self-portraits. Works from medieval Europe to colonialtime Polynesia, present West Africa, Japan, and the Americas, in a multiplicity of media are explored in detail. These studies of varied representations of “old women” offer fresh perspectives and an engaging dialogue about society's values and preconceptions regarding the wisdom of our elders and the “golden years” in different times and cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501349416
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/28/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Frima Fox Hofrichter is a Professor of the History of Art&Design at Pratt Institute, USA, author of Judith Leyster: A Woman Painter in Holland's Golden Age (1989) and Oxford's online bibliography Gender and Art in the 17th Century, and a co-author of Janson's History of Art.

Midori Yoshimoto is Associate Professor of Art History at New Jersey City University, USA, specializing in post-1945 Japanese art and its diaspora and women artists, and author of Into Performance: Japanese Women Artists in New York (2005).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction Frima Fox Hofrichter and Midori Yoshimoto
2. Alchemy's Old Wives M. E. Warlick
3. Silenced, Sidelined, and Even Undressed: Old Women in Seventeenth-Century Religious Art Zirka Z. Filipczak
4. Anger, Envy, and Aging: Early Modern Transgressive Old Women Jane Kromm
5. Frans Hals's Portrait of an Older Judith Leyster Paul Crenshaw
6. Old Maids: Images of Elderly Servants in Early Modern Europe Diane Wolfthal
7. Portraits of Power: Masks of Northwest Coast Matriarchs in the Nineteenth Century Megan A. Smetzer
8. Paetini and Vaekehu: Change and Aging in the Portraits of Marquesan Matriarchs Carol Ivory
9. Old Woman/New Vision: Lucia Moholy's Photographs of Clara Zetkin Vanessa Rocco
10. Sculptor, Hostess, Witch: Louise Nevelson's Boxes Johana Ruth Epstein
11. Museums and the Missing Women of Sande Susan Kart
12. Aging and Feminist Art: Joan Semmel's Visible Bodies Rachel Middleman
13. Darkness of Girlhood and Lightness of Aging: Miwa Yanagi's Transcendental Old Women Midori Yoshimoto

List of Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on innovative new research, the authors fearlessly tackle controversial issues, find humor in surprising places, and convincingly argue that aged women can, and should, be viewed as wise, powerful, creative, and-yes, beautiful.” —Nancy G. Heller, Professor of Art History, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA

“It reveals as much insight into the at times conflicting and contrasting approaches to art historical method as it provides material for comparative analysis from a global and largely decolonized perspective.” —Woman's Art Jourbanal

“A fascinating exploration of a little discussed subject … The book is a revelation, one that opens up new vistas for both art history and age studies.” —Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy & Sociology, University of Kent, UK

From the Publisher