Journal Article

Reviews : \Women artists : the Linda Nochlin reader\

Briggs, Patricia

2016

Overview

Reviews \"Women artists : the Linda Nochlin reader,\" edited by Maura Reilly (Thames & Hudson, 2015). Perhaps the best introduction to art historical analysis on the \"social construction\" of the woman artist, \"Women artists\" is also an outstanding overview of feminist art practice since the 1970s. Editor Maura Reilly opens with a substantial interview with Linda Nochlin, followed by 30 essays written by this outstanding scholar. 28 of these are culled from the hundreds of publications Nochlin has contributed to the discipline of art history over the last 48 years, while two essays, \"Ellen Altfest : a new, new Realism\" and \"Sophie Calle : word, image, and the end of Ekphrasis,\" are published because Nochlin has been so prolific--she has written on subjects as varied as the art of the French Revolution, 19th-century Realism, Courbet, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Modernism, contemporary art, and the history of photography--this weighty 472-page volume with plentiful color illustrations is noteworthy for its concentration on the topic of women's creative expression, about which Nochlin is an acknowledged expert. OA