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Tales of artistic ambition and gender equality at the turn of the centuryÌýÌý

Prize & Prejudice:Ìýa selection of works from the Slade class of 1918 (2018) was an exhibition and series of programmes dedicated to artistic ambition, struggles and successes of artists emerging from the during its foundation years. It exploredÌýthe experience of prize-winning artists, mostly women, now largely forgotten due to prejudice and circumstance.

Curated by Dr Andrea Fredericksen, Helen Downes and Nina Pearlman, Prize & Prejudice was theÌýoutcome of a major research project,ÌýSpotlight on the Slade Collections, funded by the Ìýto increase physical and intellectual access to this important stored collection.

The diverse programmes developed in collaboration with artists and researchers aimed to bring the voices of the forgotten artists into the exhibition space, using life drawing, performance, screenings and talks. InÌýThe Spirit of Slade Ladies Past, artist summonedÌýthe voices of the women featured in Prize & Prejudice using the theatricality of the séance. The programme also featured a screening of Slade artist 's Confessions to the Mirror (2016).

The exhibition theme and research questions were further explored in a one-day symposium,ÌýInstruction and Influence: Women in art education,Ìýwith the ÌýandÌýfunded by Ìýand is part of the museum'sÌýCurating EqualityÌýfamily of projects

This is part of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Art Collections’ commitment to interdisciplinary research-impact collaborations. For more information or expressions of interest to collaborate contactÌýmuseums@ucl.ac.uk

More about Prize & Prejudice

Women swept the prizes in 1918. While this may in itself reflect the impact of war, it was not unusual. From the outset the Slade consistently recognized the achievements of female students through the prize system. The exhibition revealedÌýthe type of education received at the Slade, its particular ethos and the nature of the prize-system, using the different prizes as case studies to focus on particular artists.

Prizes were awarded annually from the establishment of the school in 1871 in a range of categories such as Life Drawing, Head Drawing, Drapery and Composition. From 1897, winning works were retained, creating an unparalleled collection of art by emerging artists comprising of 45% women artists. Most public art collections are formed through retrospective assessment of an artist’s career and the Slade collection, assembled without the foreknowledge of their future position in the art world, pre-dates by far the trend in the private sector of collecting work by emerging artists.The exhibition reflectedÌýthis, placing lesser-known artists alongside well-established ones. Gwen John and Winifred Knights appear next to little known multiple prize-winners Alice Smith, Mabel Greenberg and Dorothy Coke.

Collaboration with Tate British Art Network

This part of the Prize & Prejudice exhibition featured highlights from ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s Slade Collections selected by members of the British Art Network sub-group British Women Artists 1750 – 1950, a subject specialist network made up of academics, independent scholars and curators, interested in new scholarship and exhibition projects that make women’s artworks more visible and better understood.

The Sub GroupÌýcontributed in an advisory capacity for ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Art Museum, as a focused aspect of Spotlight on the Slade Collections, a Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art funded project to increase access to this historically significant archive of prize-winning student art. Members were invited to participate in a research workshop, as a means of capturing specialist knowledge in regards to the women artists represented in the Slade Collections, to build a greater historical picture of the artists, their contemporaries and their overall experience at the Slade. They helped recover the identity of many now forgotten artists, and hidden narratives underpinning their works. On display were a selection of the works chosen by members, with commentary on their research findings.

The programme changed weekly and featured:

Elinor Monsell by Helen Downes (Paul Mellon Centre Research Curator, ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Art Museum)

Jessica Dismorr by Dr Alicia Foster (Writer and Curator)

Clara Klinghoffer by Alice Strickland (Curator, Nymans, Standen, Sheffield Park and Garden)

Winifred Knights by Katy Norris (Postgraduate Researcher, Tate & University of Bristol)

Ethel Walker by Katie Herrington (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of York)

Ethel Walker by Dr Anne Stutchbury (Independent Curator / Researcher)

Therese Lessore by Dr Meaghan Clarke (Director of Doctoral Studies, U of Sussex, Falmer)

Joan Hodes by Una Richmond (PhD Candidate, University of Sussex)

Rosemary Young by Rosanna Eckersley, (Associate Lecturer, Birkbeck College / Open University)

Prize & Prejudice - in the press

ÌýÌý What Happened to the Women Artists who Won Prizes in 1918? by Rosanna McLaughlin,Ìý14 May 2018

Ìý Women's history month: The Slade'sÌýprize-winning women artists lost in the gaps of history,Ìýby Jessie Thompson, 16 March 2018

Curating Equality

Curating EqualityÌýis a suite of bold interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that uncovered hidden histories in ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s collections and addressed their contemporary relevance. These brought forgotten artists into the limelight, but also uncovered their relationships with peers across disciplines, the conditions that made it possible for them to thrive, and those that led their stars to wane. ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº is well suited to exploring the visibility of women within institutional narratives and British history more widely. ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº paved the way to advancements in gender equality in education and research, and was at the vanguard of co-education in art

The models employed in Curating Equality drew on earlier projects that focused on diversity such asÌýBlack Bloomsbury (2013). New initiatives are currently being developed with colleagues at the Slade and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art for Slade 150 anniversary in 2021.

Curating Equality projects include: Prize & Prejudice,ÌýInstruction and Access: Women in art educationÌý(2018),ÌýThe Magic Fruit GardenÌý(2018),ÌýDisrupters and Innovators: Journeys in gender equality at ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºÌý(2018-19),ÌýPassing In: Access and influence in higher eductionÌý(2018) andÌýRedressÌý(2018).ÌýThese projects drew onÌýSpotlight on the Slade, aÌýcuratorial research project funded by Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (2015-2018).

Twenty-sixÌýwomen artists were featured, eleven women in other fields, alongside work by sixÌýliving artists. The suite ofÌýprojects overall incorporated research from tenÌýacademics, nine students (BA/MA/PhD) and ten collections and archives. All projects were supported by student volunteers and placements.

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