As part of my final university submission, I wrote a 6500 word essay on how women were represented as both subjects of art as well as practising artists during the Art Nouveau movement at the turn of the 19th century. For this submission, I also had to format this essay in an appropriate context, and so I formatted mine as a booklet you might find at an art exhibition, using Art Nouveau motifs to adorn the pages.

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Abstract:

This essay aims to investigate the intricate and complex relationship between women and the Art Nouveau movement.

At a time of rapid social change, this essay has explored how the ‘New Woman’ emerged to undermine traditional values of femininity. This is achieved through the visual analysis of key Art Nouveau works, as it examines the ways in which she was celebrated, sexualised, and feared through the eyes of men. Additionally, this essay highlights the role of women as artists within the movement, evaluating both the opportunities and limitations they faced while highlighting their more layered and complex representations of women compared to those created by their male counterparts.