Migrating mujeres and gender bending: Charles chaplin's atelier and the education of spanish women painters in nineteenth-century paris

Abstract

In mid-nineteenth century Paris, when an art education was out of reach for most women artists, several male painters began opening private schools specifically catering to women. In Catholic Spain, opportunities were more restricted; therefore, leaving the country and attending these French ateliers were key to women's training as no government-sponsored academies accepted women at the time. By means of archival and historical research, this analysis applies theories of Judith Butler to explore the careers of two Spanish women painters: Alejandrina Gessler y Lacroix (1831-1907) and Antonia Bañuelos Thorndike (1856-1921) as they studied under academic painter, Charles Chaplin (1825-1891). Operating outside gendered norms and traveling outside of Spain changed the direction of Spanish women's art production and exhibition practices allowing them to subvert the conservative limitations in their home country and develop professional careers both within and outside of Spain.