The American Muse

The American Muse: From the Heyday of Huge Hats to the Modern Woman explores the formidable role illustration art played in shaping and defining the public’s evolving views of women during a period when America changed from an agricultural to an urban society. Debuting in 2020, the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, this exhibition pays homage to the Suffragette movement, and all women who have worked to better gender equality to this day.

As women began to explore greater liberties in education, business, and professions, illustrators promoted understanding and acceptance by painting strong independent women adapting to their ever-changing roles in society. In the era before television and the internet, newspapers and magazines were the mass media. The talented men and women whose original artwork graced these publications molded the opinions of the American people in every aspect, from fashion and beauty, to politics and social norms. 

As women sought and gained greater equality, the public’s understanding of these changes was played out in the images of the popular media. Women were portrayed heroically at times, satirically at others, as they sought balance between traditional domestic ideals and the new ethos of modernism. The exhibition will also highlight shifting paradigms of female objectification and how these “muses” promoted everything from new commercial products to domestic relationships. In sum, these illustrations had a profound impact in educating and acculturating Americans. 

The American Muse will feature original illustrations from the 1880s through to the modern day. By incorporation artworks from a spectrum of illustrators, this exhibition will highlight many facets of the evolving issue of gender equality.