Leisure, Pleasure, and the Debut of the Modern French Woman August 13, 2011

This exhibition will present prints and drawings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the hope of illustrating an overall shift in the depiction of women in France. Stereotypically seen in pastoral, aristocratic settings, French women in eighteenth century art are typically portrayed as virtuous role models or dangerous coquettes. However, less than a century later, though depictions such as these still remain, women are portrayed with greater influence economically and socially, and with greater intellectual and emotional depth. The exhibition will feature works by Degas, Morisot, Tissot, Gauguin, Debucourt, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cassatt along with other major artists from both centuries.