Upon seeing Judy Chicago’s artwork, The Dinner Party, I came across a few
names I recognized including: Anne Hutchinson, Sacajawea, Susan B. Anthony,
Christine de Pisan, and many more. I found it cool how many of the plates
resembled the people Judy was trying to represent; for example, how Georgia
O’Keeffe’s plate looked much like her paintings of flowers.
One of the place settings that immediately caught my attention was Anna van
Schurman, mainly because of the writing embroidered into the cloth. After
examining her closely, I have realized how much I appreciate her contributions
to women. This place setting awoke my inner feminist, reminding me who I
should be thankful for and look up to for my education. She was a very smart
woman, constantly proving herself while diminishing the misconceptions
society had about women’s capabilities at a time when women were not
allowed to get an adequate education.
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| Judy Chicago The Dinner Party (Anna Van Schurman plate) 1974-79 |
Trotula’s place setting also grasped my attention. The work on the plate
reminded me of the commonly used symbol for the American Medical
Association, later to find out that this was Judy’s intent in this piece of her
work. After examining and researching further references, I also discovered that
Trotula took interest in the medical field at a very early time. She became the first gynecologist. This is very important to the history of women’s health because she
noticed important things about the female body that set a foundation for later practices.
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| American Medical Association Symbol from Google Images |
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| Judy Chicago The Dinner Party (Trotula plate) 1974-79 |
Apart from the Dinner Party installation, I explored the Egyptian Art and
European Art on the third floor. The painting below (left) really reminded
me of the techniques and colors used in Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun's
Portrait of Marie Antoinette with Her Children that I learned about in this class.
To my surprise, it was also painted by Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun. The
description discussed how controversial Elisabeth’s paintings were, especially
when she painted her wealthy subjects smiling. Below is the two paintings side
by side for comparison.
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| Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun Portrait of Marie Antoinette with Her Children 1787 |
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| Eliabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun Portrait of Countess Maria Theresia Czernin 1793 |
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