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The ArtsMarch 2026Surrealist women artists and mental illness
by Jenny Anger
Female mental illness has been a prominent and complicated theme in surrealist cultural traditions, including the idealization of women with mental illness in works such as André Breton's Nadja (1928). Art historians have examined this tendency before, but to date there has been no comprehensive study of the lived reality of women surrealist artists with mental illness. How did women's experience and their work intersect with this romanticized vision? Was the masculine dream of feminized, "mad" genius prohibitive or productive for these women artists? After establishing the ideological field within which these women worked, the book turns to case studies of well-known and some lesser-known artists, including Ángeles Santos, Leonora Carrington, Dora Maar, Claude Cahun, Frida Kahlo, Meret Oppenheim, Sonja Sekula, and Unica Zürn. This collection of essays contains a wide range of responses, revealing surrealism's generative as well as restrictive force.
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The ArtsAugust 2010Women artists between the Wars
'A fair field and no favour'
by Katy Deepwell
Starting with a critique of existing methodologies and histories of the period, this book examines the production of women artists, looking at different areas and aspects of their activities, and particularly contrasting the lives of different generations of women artists. Many of these women's names or their works are not familiar in art histories of the twentieth century. The book analyses how women artists' presence which was consistently one third of the artists in many major exhibiting groups became less than 10% of the museum purchases and in art historical texts for this period. Comparisons are made between the opportunities presented to women artists and those of their male peers in the light of considerable change and restructuring within the art world in Britain during this period, principally due to the growing influence of modernism in the art market. ;
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The ArtsMarch 2013Women, the arts and globalization
Eccentric experience
by Marsha Meskimmon, Amelia Jones, Dorothy C. Rowe, Dorothy Rowe, Marsha Meskimmon
Women, the arts and globalization: Eccentric experience is the first anthology to bring transnational feminist theory and criticism together with women's art practices to discuss the connections between aesthetics, gender and identity in a global world. The essays in Women, the Arts and Globalization demonstrate that women in the arts are rarely positioned at the centre of the art market, and the movement of women globally (as travelers or migrants, empowered artists/scholars or exiled practitioners), rarely corresponds with the dominant models of global exchange. Rather, contemporary women's art practices provide a fascinating instance of women's eccentric experiences of the myriad effects of globalization. Bringing scholarly essays on gender, art and globalization together with interviews and autobiographical accounts of personal experiences, the diversity of the book is relevant to artists, art historians, feminist theorists and humanities scholars interested in the impact of globalization on culture in the broadest sense. ;
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Business, Economics & LawDecember 2020Women before the court
Law and patriarchy in the Anglo-American world, 1600–1800
by Lindsay R. Moore
Women before the court offers an innovative, comparative approach to the study of women's legal rights during a formative period of Anglo-American history. It traces how colonists transplanted English legal institutions to America, examines the remarkable depth of women's legal knowledge and shows how the law increasingly undermined patriarchal relationships between parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and wives. The book will be of interest to scholars of Britain and colonial America, and to laypeople interested in how women in the past navigated and negotiated the structures of authority that governed them. It is packed with fascinating stories that women related to the courts in cases ranging from murder and abuse to debt and estate litigation. Ultimately, it makes a remarkable contribution to our understandings of law, power and gender in the early modern world.
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2022Women art workers and the Arts and Crafts movement
by Zoë Thomas, Lynn Abrams
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2001Women, scholarship and criticism c.1790–1900
Gender and knowledge
by Joan Bellamy, Anne Laurence, Gill Perry, Susan Williams
Brings together the varied artistic, critical and cultural productions by women scholars, critics and artists between 1790-1900, many of whom are little known in the canonical histories of the period. Questions the concepts of 'scholarship', 'criticism' and 'artist' across the different disciplines. Women discussed include authors (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Sydney Morgan and Anna Jameson) actresses ( Elizabeth Siddons, Dorothy Jordan, and Mary Robinson) critics ( Margaret Oliphant and Mary Cowden Clarke) historians (Agnes Strickland, Lucy Aikin, Mary Anne Everett Green, Elizabeth Cooper and Lucy Toulmin Smith) as well as the writers and readers of Women's magazines, educationalists and translators. Makes a significant and original contribution to the development of gender studies by extending the frontiers of existing knowledge and research. ;
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2021Women art workers and the Arts and Crafts movement
by Zoë Thomas
This book constitutes the first comprehensive history of the network of women who worked at the heart of the English Arts and Crafts movement from the 1870s to the 1930s. Challenging the long-standing assumption that the Arts and Crafts simply revolved around celebrated male designers like William Morris, it instead offers a new social and cultural account of the movement, which simultaneously reveals the breadth of the imprint of women art workers upon the making of modern society. Thomas provides unprecedented insight into how women navigated authoritative roles as 'art workers' by asserting expertise across a range of interconnected cultures: from the artistic to the professional, intellectual, entrepreneurial and domestic. Through examination of newly discovered institutional archives and private papers, Thomas elucidates the critical importance of the spaces around which women conceptualised alternative creative and professional lifestyles.
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Family & home stories (Children's/YA)February 1905Little Women
by Louise May Alcott
Little Women "has been read as a romance or as a quest, or both. It has been read as a family drama that validates virtue over wealth", but also "as a means of escaping that life by women who knew its gender constraints only too well".[6]:34 According to Sarah Elbert, Alcott created a new form of literature, one that took elements from Romantic children's fiction and combined it with others from sentimental novels, resulting in a totally new format. Elbert argued that within Little Women can be found the first vision of the "All-American girl" and that her multiple aspects are embodied in the differing March sisters.
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September 2025Liberated Pleasure. A workbook for Women
by Julia Sparmann
Far too often, everyday stress, pressure to perform or inner blockages spoil our enjoyment of the most beautiful thing in the world: our female sexuality. How can we free ourselves from firmly internalized taboos? What little tricks can we use to get our sex life back on track and keep the imagination in our head running successfully?Experienced sex therapist Julia Sparmann not only offers surprising solutions to typical problems such as loss of libido, communication difficulties or orgasm problems. She also encourages women to deal confidently with their sexuality and develop a positive body image.
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The ArtsOctober 2025Art and citizenship in conflict
British women war artists, 1939–45
by Lucy Curzon
Art and Citizenship in Conflict examines the work of women war artists in order to highlight the complexity of citizenship and gender in Britain during the Second World War. Evelyn Dunbar, Mary Kessell, Ethel Gabain, Stella Schmolle, and Laura Knight, among others, were commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC) to document the millions of women who took up sometimes unconventional roles-in agriculture, the auxiliary services, and manufacturing, among others-to support the British war effort. Indeed, their prints, drawings, and paintings were part of a broader scheme to uphold morale and promote much-needed citizen involvement on the home front. While there is growing interest, the importance of their remit in the history of the Second World War and the quality of their artistry have nonetheless not yet secured them a significant place in scholarship. Art and Citizenship in Conflict seeks to amend this gap while also broadening approaches to the study of war itself.
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Humanities & Social SciencesJuly 1997Picturing women in late medieval and renaissance art
by Christa Grossinger
This extensively illustrated book discusses the representation of women in the art of the late Middle Ages in Northern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of different media, but making particular use of the rich plethora of woodcuts, the author charts how the images of women changed during the period and proposes two basic categories - the Virgin and Eve, good and evil. Within these, however, we discover attitudes to sinful, foolish, married and unmarried women and the style and use of these images exposes the full extent of the misogyny entrenched in medieval society. ;
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May 202230 Women
Von Girlpower, starken Frauen, schwachen Momenten und der Reise zu dir selbst
by Lina Mallon, Moon Notes
In "30 Women" öffnet die Autorin Lina Mallon persönlich und authentisch ihre Gedanken- und Gefühlswelt und teilt die Geschichten von dreißig Frauen, die in verschiedenster Weise ihr Leben beeinflusst und geprägt haben. Diese Frauen – von engen Freundinnen über familiäre Bezugspersonen bis hin zu beruflichen Vorbildern und inspirierenden öffentlichen Persönlichkeiten – repräsentieren eine Bandbreite an Erfahrungen, Lehren und Perspektiven, die Mallon auf ihrem eigenen Lebensweg begleitet haben. Indem sie ihre eigenen Erlebnisse, Auseinandersetzungen und Entwicklungen im Kontext dieser Begegnungen reflektiert, bietet sie Einblicke in die vielschichtigen Facetten weiblicher Beziehungen, gegenseitiger Unterstützung und persönlicher Wachstumsprozesse. Mallon betont die Bedeutung von authentischer Verbindung, offener Kommunikation und der Fähigkeit, sowohl Unterstützung zu geben als auch anzunehmen. Sie thematisiert die Herausforderungen und Widersprüche, mit denen Frauen in einer von gesellschaftlichen Erwartungen und individuellen Träumen geprägten Welt konfrontiert sind. "30 Women" ist nicht nur eine Hommage an die Kraft und Diversität weiblicher Beziehungen, sondern auch ein Plädoyer für mehr Solidarität, Empathie und Selbstbestimmung unter Frauen. Es ist eine Ermutigung, sich gegenseitig zu fördern, ehrlich miteinander umzugehen und gemeinsam sowohl die Freuden als auch die Herausforderungen des Lebens zu meistern. Inspirierende Geschichten von 30 Frauen, die das Leben von Bestsellerautorin Lina Mallon geprägt haben. Authentische Einblicke in Freundschaften, gesellschaftliche Erwartungen und die persönliche Entwicklung einer Frau. Faszinierende Auseinandersetzung mit der Kraft der weiblichen Solidarität und der Bedeutung von echtem Support. Persönliche und offene Reflexionen über Enttäuschungen in Freundschaften und den Umgang mit Kritik. Ermutigung für Frauen, sich gegenseitig zu unterstützen und gemeinsam zu wachsen, statt sich als Konkurrentinnen zu sehen. Lebensnaher Ratgeber, der die Leserinnen dazu anregt, über ihre eigenen Beziehungen und Erfahrungen nachzudenken. Abwechslungsreiche Porträts von Frauen aus unterschiedlichen Lebensbereichen, die alle auf ihre Weise inspirieren. Ein Buch von der bekannten Bloggerin, Fotografin und Podcasterin Lina Mallon, die ihre persönlichen Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse teilt. Ein Aufruf zu mehr Ehrlichkeit, Selbstreflexion und Mut in der Gestaltung weiblicher Beziehungen. Perfekt für Leserinnen, die sich für Themen rund um Freundschaft, Frauenpower und persönliches Wachstum interessieren.
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2013Women of the English Nobility and Gentry, 1066-1500
by Jennifer Ward
While there is increasing interest in the lives of medieval women, the documentary evidence for their activities remains little known. This book provides a collection of sources for an important and influential group of women in medieval England, and examines changes in their role and activities between 1066 and 1500. For most noble and gentry-women, early marriage led to responsibilities for family and household, and, in the absence of their husbands, for the family estates and retainers. Widowhood enabled them to take control of their affairs and to play an independent part in the local community and sometimes further afield. Although many women's lives followed a conventional pattern, great variety existed within family relationships, and individuality can also be seen in religious practices and patronage. Piety could take a number of different forms, whether a woman became a nun, a vowess or a noted philanthropist and benefactor to religious institutions. This volume provides a broad-ranging and accessible coverage of the role of noble women in medieval society. It highlights the significant role played by these women within their families, households, estates and communities.
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2026Rethinking right-wing women
Gender and the Conservative Party, 1880s to the present
by Clarisse Berthezène, Julie Gottlieb
Rethinking Right-Wing Women explores the institutional structures for and the representations, mobilisation, and the political careers of women in the British Conservative Party since the late 19th century. From the Primrose League (est.1883) to Women2Win (est.2005), the party has exploited women's political commitment and their social power from the grass-roots to the heights of the establishment. Yet, although it is the party that extended the equal franchise, had the first woman MP to sit Parliament, and produced the first two women Prime Ministers, the UK Conservative Party has developed political roles for women that jar with feminist and progressive agendas. Conservative women have tended to be more concerned about the fulfilment of women's duties than the realisation of women's rights. This book tackles the ambivalences between women's politicisation and women's emancipation in the history of Britain's most electorally successful and hegemonic political party.
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Literature & Literary StudiesApril 2001Women, theatre and performance
New histories, new historiographies
by Kate Dorney, Maggie B. Gale, Susan Williams
The first in a new annual series, Women, Theatre and Performance that will consist of themed volumes on diverse aspects of women's engagement with theatre and performance. Ranging across three hundred years the essays in this volume address key questions in women's theatre history and retrieve a number of hitherto 'hidden' histories of women performers. Resituates women's, largely neglected, creative contribution within theatre and cultural history and seeks to challenge orthodox readings of both history and text. Topics include: Susanna Centlivre and the notion of intertheatricality; gender and theatrical space; the repositioning of women performers such as Wagner's Muse, Willhelmina Schröder-Devrient, the Comédie Français' 'Mademoiselle Mars', Mme Arnould-Plessey, and the actresses of the Russian serf theatre. ;
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The ArtsMarch 1905Concerning the Spiritual in Art
by Wassily Kandinsky
A pioneering work in the movement to free art from its traditional bonds to material reality, this book is one of the most important documents in the history of modern art. Written by the famous nonobjective painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), it explains Kandinsky's own theory of painting and crystallizes the ideas that were influencing many other modern artists of the period. Along with his own groundbreaking paintings, this book had a tremendous impact on the development of modern art. Kandinsky's ideas are presented in two parts. The first part, called "About General Aesthetic," issues a call for a spiritual revolution in painting that will let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material terms. Just as musicians do not depend upon the material world for their music, so artists should not have to depend upon the material world for their art. In the second part, "About Painting," Kandinsky discusses the psychology of colors, the language of form and color, and the responsibilities of the artist. An Introduction by the translator, Michael T. H. Sadler, offers additional explanation of Kandinsky's art and theories, while a new Preface by Richard Stratton discusses Kandinsky's career as a whole and the impact of the book. Making the book even more valuable are nine woodcuts by Kandinsky himself that appear at the chapter headings. This English translation of Über das Geistige in der Kunst was a significant contribution to the understanding of nonobjectivism in art. It continues to be a stimulating and necessary reading experience for every artist, art student, and art patron concerned with the direction of 20th-century painting.
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FictionNovember 2018Beard's Roman Women
By Anthony Burgess
by Graham Foster
Anthony Burgess draws upon an autobiographical episode to create Beard's Roman Women, the story of a man haunted by his first wife, presumed dead. But is she? A marvellously economical book, full-flavoured, funny, and heartfelt, showing its author at the height of his powers. This new edition is the first to be published with David Robinson's photographs for over 40 years. The text of the novel has been restored using the original typescripts, and Graham Foster's new introduction provides valuable insight into the fictional and biographical contexts of the novel. The text is fully annotated with a detailed set of notes and this edition includes the previously unpublished script for Burgess's television film By the Waters of Leman: Byron and Shelley at Geneva, and a rare piece of Burgess's writing about Rome.
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2021Women of war
Gender, modernity and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
by Juliette Pattinson
Women of war is an examination of gender modernity using the world's longest established women's military organisation, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. These New Women's adoption of martial uniform and military-style training, their inhabiting of public space, their deployment of innovative new technologies such as the motor car, the illustrated press, advertisements and cinematic film and their proactive involvement in the First World War illustrate why the Corps and its socially elite members are a particularly revealing case study of gender modernity. Bringing into dialogue both public and personal representations, it makes a major contribution to the social and cultural history of Britain in the early twentieth century and will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars working in the fields of military history, animal studies, trans studies, dress history, sociology of the professions, nursing history and transport history.
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