Tate Modern is celebrating women in the arts and the centenary of the Representation of the People Act. The Act gave women over 30 the right to vote. The celebrations include a series of art projects and exhibitions that include Annie  Swynnerton’s portrait of Millicent Fawcett. Image: Tate Britain

Celebrating Women in the Arts

Tate Britain is celebrating women in the arts with a series of art exhibitions and art projects. The projects examine women’s struggle for equality and the right to vote.     

BY KAZAD

UNITED KINGDOM—Tate’s celebration of women in the arts has started. It began Friday with the display of Annie Swynnerton’s portrait of Millicent Fawcett.  The display is in commemoration of the centenary of the Representation of the People Act. The Act gave women over 30 the right to vote on February 6. Millicent Fawcett was one of the key campaigners for women to have the right to vote.

Fawcett was tireless in her struggle to ensure equal opportunities for women. She was a British feminist, intellectual, political union leader, and writer. Fawcett was instrumental in gaining women the vote in 1918. In fact, she was present in parliament for the act that granted women an equal franchise in 1928.

Annie Swynnerton’s oil on canvas painting shows Fawcett wearing the University of St Andrews robes. It is uncertain when the portrait was painted. However, Dr. Katie Jane Tyreman Herrington, co-curator of Annie Swynnerton: Painting Light and Hope opening on February 23, suggests it was first painted around 1899. This was when Fawcett was presented an Honorary Doctorate by the University of St Andrews. From Tate Britain, the portrait will travel to Manchester Art Gallery for Annie Swynnerton: Painting Light and Hope exhibition.  A new statue of Fawcett by Gillian Wearing will also be on display in Parliament Square later this year.

The display at Tate Britain is just one of the many ways Tate is celebrating women in the arts over. The entire celebration brings into focus women’s struggle for equal opportunity and rights. Maria Balshaw, Director Tate, said:

The Struggle of Women to Get the Basic Right to Vote

The struggles of women to get the basic right to vote were long and arduous. It is hard to believe that it is only one hundred years since that historic victory that set us on course for equal rights. Great strides have been made in the intervening decades but we still have a long road to travel. We are delighted to be marking Millicent Fawcett’s outstanding contribution to the cause with the display of her portrait at Tate Britain. We are also pleased the painting will then travel to Manchester for the Swynnerton exhibition, marking the city’s proud connection with the history of women’s suffrage.”

Like Millicent Fawcett, Swynnerton was a warrior for women’s rights. She was a passionate campaigner for women’s right to vote, signed the Declaration in Favor of Women’s Suffrage in July 1889, and headed the Artists’ Suffrage League section of the Women’s Coronation Procession in 1911. Fawcett was a pioneering and successful artist; she was the first woman to be elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts since its founding.

Annie Swynnerton: Challenging Conventions in Art and Life

In addition to using her voice, Swynnerton also used her work to bring attention to women’s struggles and celebrate them. She painted several portraits of leading figures in the women’s movement including Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929), leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Fawcett died in 1929, and a year after, women got an equal franchise.   Swynnerton’s portrait Fawcett soon went on display and bought for the nation by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest.

Like her portrait of Fawcett, Swynnerton’s portraits reveal the essence of her sitter notes Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain:

Swynnerton poignantly captures the qualities of resilience and compassion in her sitter, Millicent Fawcett, revealing the force behind this exceptional woman. We are thrilled to be able to mark the centenary of women’s right to vote with a work by an artist who was an ardent campaigner for women’s rights and whose subject is one of the most important pioneers in the history of women’s suffrage.”

In addition to Annie Swynnerton’s portrait of Millicent Fawcett, Tate Britain will also explore issues of representation, gender, and politics in its collection displays with a series of free tours running through June. The tours will highlight the experience and vision of women artists in the Tate Britain collection.

Furthermore, visitors can also learn more by taking a digital tour exploring stories of women’s empowerment across the centuries through works in the collection. A Spotlight display devoted to one of the two women founding members of the Royal Academy, Angelica Kauffman, will open at Tate Britain on June 18 and run until October 16.

ART & DESIGN | READ ALSO: Struggles for Women’s Right to Vote Relived Through Photographs

Tate’s celebration of women in the arts does not end with viewing works in the museum. February’s Uniqlo Tate Late will also be an opportunity to celebrate women in the arts. NTS will present an all-female lineup of DJs for the Terrace Bar, while gal-dem, a creative collective of women of color, will curate a night of music in the Tanks.

The celebration will also feature talks by Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, Otegha Uwagba of Women Who, and Sarah Corbett of Craftist Collective. Similarly, there be a salon produced by Bishi’s WITCiH (Women in Technology Creative Industries Hub). Stance Podcast will be in residence in Tate Exchange will also be celebrating women in the arts.

Additionally, there will be workshops and events around the Tate building. South London Women Artists, the Women’s Art Library, Sisters Uncut, and the Feminist Library will host some of the events. To highlight the UK gender pay gap, all exhibition tickets are on sale for 9.1% less. The gender wage gap is currently at 9.1%.

The celebration of women in art is a recognition of how far they have come. But more importantly, it shows how far they still need to go in their quest for equality. Although women have made great progress, many issues remain unsolved. The recent Women March across the globe is proof that the struggle for women’s rights is not over. Just as women look to the future, they are not forgetting the past. Frances Morris, Director, Tate Modern, explains that it is also important to continue celebrating women and past achievements:

Time to Look Back and Celebrate Women’s Achievements

This is a time to look back and celebrate women’s achievements over the past 100 years, but it’s also a time to look at what women are achieving all over the world today. At this month’s Uniqlo Tate Late, Tate Modern will showcase the amazing things women artists, musicians, writers, thinkers, and creatives are doing here and now, as well as taking a critical look at the myriad challenges women continue to encounter in very different circumstances across the globe.

Virginia Woolf: Celebrating Women Through Gender Equality and Struggles

Tate Britain is not alone in celebrating women in the arts and those who risked their lives for women’s suffrage.  Tate St Ives will open Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition Inspired by Her Writings on February 10. This exhibition uses Woolf’s writing as a prism to explore feminist perspectives on landscape, domesticity and identity in art. It will feature works by over 80 artists including Laura Knight, Vanessa Bell, Sandra Blow, and Dora Carrington. Woolf was an author of classic novels. Her work includes To the Lighthouse and the pioneering feminist text A Room of One’s Own. She spent much of her childhood in St. Ives.

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The Recent Women’s March is a reminder that the struggle for women’s right is not over yet. Celebrating women brings attention to their struggles. What do you think?  Share your comment. Follow Us: Facebook– Twitter–Instagram