Alexandra Laure Courtois de Vicose Humanities and Social Science
Artistic Bias and Class Restrictions: A History of Unknown Nineteenth-century Painter Marcelle Jullien
My goal is to investigate how a pastors wife, my great-great-grandmother (1867-1947), found the financial and technical means to paint and the significance of her work in the greater scheme of late 19th century artistic tradition. I will begin by gathering biographical information from archives, religious institutions and surviving relatives to create a psychological and chronological framework. Then I will examine her work contextually, contemplating the conditional education of middle-class nineteenth-century women, other female artists of her generation, and the tradition of still-life painting. Marcelle Jullien managed to carve a space for her creative expression despite the societal pressures and restrictions of a patriarchal world. Since Art is a reflection of the environment within which it was created, this study is about gender and class as much as it is about Art History.