Overview

Catherine the Great’s audacious power grab in 1762 marked a watershed in imperial Russian history. During a momentous 34-year reign, her rapacious vision and intellectual curiosity led to vast territorial expansion, cultural advancement, and civic, educational and social reform. In this pioneering book, Rosalind Blakesley reveals the remarkable role women artists played in her pursuit of these ambitions. With challenging commissions for an elite cast of Russian patrons, their work underscores the extent to which cultural enrichment co-existed with the empress’s imperial designs.  Catherine’s acquisitions propelled renowned artists to new heights. The history paintings that she purchased from Angelica Kauffman brought the Swiss artist to the attention of keen new patrons, while Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun found in Russia safe refuge from the horrors of revolutionary France. Just as important were Catherine’s relationships with lesser-known artists. The young sculptor Marie-Anne Collot made the arduous journey from Paris to St Petersburg to assist on the equestrian monument to Peter the Great and enthralled Russian society with her portrait busts, while Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna, wife of Catherine’s troubled son Paul, sculpted cameos which the empress sent to distinguished correspondents abroad. With stories of extraordinary artistic endeavour intertwined with the intrigue of Catherine’s personal life, Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great uncovers the impact of these and other artists at one of Europe’s most elaborate courts. 

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9781848225459

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Reviews

'In her dynamic account of the cultural energies of Catherine the Great's court, Blakesley traces how women artists negotiated the complex dynamics of patronage and privilege, to make their presence felt against cultural odds. This is a lively and necessary re-gendering of Russia's imperial past.' - Dr Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate

'In her dynamic account of the cultural energies of Catherine the Great's court, Blakesley traces how women artists negotiated the complex dynamics of patronage and privilege, to make their presence felt against cultural odds. This is a lively and necessary re-gendering of Russia's imperial past.'  – Dr Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate ‘This engaging, accessible and beautifully illustrated book provides a welcome and stimulating contribution to scholarship on 18th-century art and patronage, particularly on the relationships (and rivalries) fostered by Catherine and members of the Russian elite with their contemporaries in the rest of Enlightenment Europe.’ – Paul Keenan, The Art Newspaper 'In the organization of the book, Catherine’s reign serves as backdrop against which we discover the talent and initiative of ambitious women who (mostly circumstantially) entered Catherine’s orbit, and tangentially remained there for temporary spells. Blakesley gives them their own space, bringing to light female painters who, once at court, became impressive figures with rich personalities and attested talent. Despite, or because of, their complicated lives, they were perhaps destined of their own accord and natural gifts to make their mark in art history—with, or without, Catherine the Great.' – Myroslava Mudrak, H-SHERA 'Buttressed by the author’s rare gift for storytelling, Blakesley’s book reimagines Catherine’s reign as one dependent on the seen and unseen artistic work of women, women who navigated the geographic distances of Enlightenment Europe and who helped turn Russia into a powerhouse of the modern art scene.' {...} 'In the face of often profound harassment and discrimination, Blakesley’s subjects seized opportunities for professional advancement and artistic expression. They built lives and, indeed, empires. … In this book, a unique and invaluable contribution to Russian art history and gender studies, Blakesley shows us that, while Catherine may not have promoted a “sisterhood,” a sisterhood of women artists were nevertheless behind the creation of Russia as a center of art and empire.' – Molly Brunson, The Russian Review 'Blakesley’s study distinguishes itself by its original character… It is a precious tool for those interested in artistic production during the period of Catherine II. The term which best describes this work is erudition with accessibility.' – Hugo Tardy, Revue d'histoire culturelle 'It takes mastery to maintain the balance between the bird's-eye view of the matter at hand and the close-up look, as if under a magnifying glass, at a painting or a sculpture. This approach enables Blakesley to offer new insights into works of art known because of their historic significance, but underappreciated regarding the artistic accomplishment they manifest. The book reveals intricate, highly gendered, human entanglements—artists, critics, patrons, and mediators—embodied by works of art created by women and acquired by an empress.' – Asen Kirin, Slavic Review

Author Information

Rosalind P. Blakesley, a prize-winning writer and academic, is Professor of Russian and European Art and a Fellow of Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. A Trustee of the V&A and Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, she has authored books including The Russian Canvas (Yale University Press, 2016) and The Arts and Crafts Movement (Phaidon Press, 2006), and curated exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC.

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