July 23, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS A LECTURE ON WOMEN ARTISTS PAINTING THE NUDE BY AUTHOR AND ART HISTORIAN REBECCA BIRELL
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Saturday, August 2, the Clark Art Institute presents “Corruptive…Destructive:” Women Artists Paint the Nude, 1875–1945, a lecture by author and art historian Rebecca Birrell. This free lecture is given in conjunction with the Clark’s exhibition A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945 and takes place in the Clark’s Manton Research Center auditorium at 2 pm.
In 1930, writing about her sister Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf describes how “it was held, until sixty years ago […] for a woman to look upon nakedness with the eye of an artist, and not simply with the eye of mother, wife or mistress, was corruptive of her innocency and destructive of her domesticity.” In this lecture, author and art historian Rebecca Birrell explores how Bell, among others (including Evelyn de Morgan, Gwen John, and Winifred Knights), overcame moral and pedagogical constraints to produce nudes that reflected new ideas about women’s ambitions, desires, and social roles. If the nude was taboo, how did women artists, including Gluck and Ethel Sands, innovate in other genres such as flower paintings and interiors to reflect on sexuality, gender, and the body?
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 3 pm tea party hosted by the Clark and Wild Soul River, featuring British teas and light bites, follows. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945 features paintings, drawings, prints, stained glass, embroidery, and other decorative arts made by twenty-five professional women artists in Great Britain who were answering Virginia Woolf’s call to carve out a space that allowed their creativity to flourish. The exhibition explores the spaces these women claimed as their own and which furthered their artistic ambitions, including their rooms, homes, studios, art schools, clubs, and public exhibition venues. Their roles in creating change and opportunity—whether through art education, marching for women’s suffrage, protesting world War I, or creating networking opportunities for fellow artists or members of their community—is also highlighted in this presentation. The exhibition is on view through September 14, 2025.
A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945 is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Alexis Goodin, associate curator.
Generous support for A Room of Her Own is provided by Joanne Barker, Carol and Bob Braun, Richard and Carol Seltzer, Denise Littlefield Sobel, and the Tavolozza Foundation.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of nearly 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free to all from January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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