Aristocratic Amateur Women Artists in Belgium (1806-1914)

Aristocratic dilettantes. Female amateur artists in noble circles in Belgium between 1830 and 1914 During the nineteenth century, all daughters from noble birth or bourgeois descent learned to draw, paint and play music. A talented artistic girl was considered as a better marriage candidate. Most research has been focusing on the increasing possibilities to become a professional women artist. As only 10 to 15% of all professional artists was female, the majority, who was an amateur artist, was never before studied. Unfortunately, throughout the century, the negative connotations around dilettantism and its practitioners worsened. The question is: What effects did these two evolutions have onthe exercise of the arts by female amateur artists throughout the nineteenth century? This project will answer this question by combining artistic and literary sources. As nobility understood the need to preserve art works, journals, letters and account books, the four distinct case-studies are aristocratic dilettantes in Belgium between 1830 and 1914. Each case-study consists of a female line of three amateur artists. This enables to notice differences and continuations in that period. The dilettantes oeuvre, both Fine and applied arts, shall be analyzed, in combination to their biography and position in the art world. Their genderand corporality shall be considered according to the contemporary convictions. And at last, the reception of their work by press critics at that time. These steps will lead us to find the relation between identity construction and creativity in aristocratic women in the Belgian context during the long nineteenth century.status: accepte