Women's culture: American philanthropy and art, 1830-1930

Abstract

Kathleen McCarthy here presents the first book-length treatment of the vital role middle- and upper-class women played in the development of American museums in the century after 1830. By promoting undervalued areas of artistic endeavor, from folk art to the avant-garde, such prominent individuals as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller were able to launch national feminist reform movements, forge extensive nonprofit marketing systems, and "feminize" new occupations.-- Library of Congress

Contents

Culture and gender in antebellum America -- Candace Wheeler and the decorative arts movement -- Separatism and entrepreneurship -- Artists and mentors -- Museums and marginalization -- Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court -- Women and the avant-garde -- Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney : from studio to museum.