Women Artists at the Exposition

Eola Willis
Charleston artist

Women artists played an important role in the development of the fine arts, not only in Charleston, but in the rest of the country as well. They began, however slowly to be taken seriously, through exhibits at some of the major expositions in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Women began to be included in major expositions as organizers realized that they could not be ignored. A large percentage of consumers were women. In the United States, women played a much more prominent role in society after the Civil War. They did the work of the men who were off fighting the war and found that after the war was over that they were not willing to return to their passive roles. This new found assertiveness was seen at some of the post-civil war expositions held in the United States.

The first women's exhibit at a major exposition was held at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. The women were not allowed to exhibit with the men, so they had their own separate building to hold exhibits. There was an emphasis in these exhibits on crafts such as lace-making and embroidery. These crafts were not considered, and still are not considered, high art. Women were not accepted in the so-called high art realm. At the fine arts exhibits in the second half of the nineteenth century, when women were allowed to exhibit alongside men, only 3.5% of the work shown was by women. By 1900 nearly 25% of works shown at fine arts exhibits were by women (Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Vistas 192). Despite this, there were some women who showed consistently at art exhibits that were part of a major exposition. These artists included Sarah Dodson, Elizabeth Gardner, Cecilia Beaux, Laura Coombs Hills, Virginia Reynolds, Theodora Thayer and Maria Woodbury (Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Vistas 194).

The World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, firmly established the women's exhibit as a part of all expositions. Europe did not have a significant women's exhibit at one of its expositions until the Franco-British Exposition held in London in 1908.

Coming soon!! More information on the South Carolina women artists who participated in the exhibit at the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition.

Please e-mail me with questions or suggestions:
alison@gslis.utexas.edu