Marie Laurencin : Une femme inadaptee in Feminist Histories of Art

The author argues that the substance of Marie Laurencin's art and the feminist issues that were entangled in her life have been narrowly examined or reduced by an author's chosen theoretical format; and the terms of her lesbian identity have been overlooked. Here, she aims to redress the balance.

Marie Laurencin, in spite of the noticeable reputation she made in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century, has attracted only sporadic attention by late-twentieth century art historians. Until now the substance of her art and the feminist issues that were entangled in her life have been narrowly examined or reduced by an author''s chosen theoretical format; and the terms of her lesbian identity have been overlooked. In this case study of une femme inadaptée and an unfit feminist, Elizabeth Kahn re-situates Laurencin in the on-going feminist debates that enrich the disciplines of art history, women''s studies and literary criticism. Kahn''s thorough reading of the artist''s visual and literary production ensures a comprehensive overview which addresses notable works and passages but also integrates those that are less well known. Incorporating feminist theory and building on the work of contemporary feminist art historians, she avoids the heroics of conventional biography, instead allowing her subject to participate in the historical collective of women''s work. Provocative and engagingly written, this fresh new study of Marie Laurencin''s life and works also explores the multiple valences by which to connect the histories of, and find new connections between, women artists across the twentieth century.