In cultures that do not produce an elaborate visual record with accompanying text, there are a great many assumptions made by the original collectors of the works that can often become fact as they are re-written in successive museum catalogues.
A Connemara Girl is one of the most recognized young, barefoot goat-herders in art history. The daily life of a peasant girl in Ireland is elevated by this simple, yet powerful image.
Degas’ Int√©rieur presents a highly charged emotional scene, yet its ambiguous narrative has perplexed scholars and viewers alike.
Artist Paul Gauguin is a complicated character in the canon. In the context of girl studies, he is immensely less noble than in traditional art history.
Women and landscapes dominate much of 19th century Japanese art. Typically they are shown as docile or passive, but there were other representations of active girls as well.