Victorian Society Fall Lectures
METROPOLITAN CHAPTER of THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY IN AMERICA
Please Join Us!
All lectures are at the Donnell Library Auditorium, 20 W. 53rd St., New York City
Admission is FREE; no reservations required!
Tuesday, November 13, 6 PM
Asserting Yourself in Men’s Clothes: Cross-Dressing in the Comedies of Alice Guy Blaché, the First Woman Filmmaker
Dr. Alison McMahan, president of Homunculus Productions and author of Alice Guy Blaché, Lost Cinematic Visionary and The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Hollywood
The 25-year career of Alice Guy Blaché as a film producer and director began in 1896 and resulted in hundreds of films, many of which were groundbreaking in technology and subject matter. Her comedies focused on active female heroes, marital equality and cross-dressing. Although cross-dressing was a common trope in films of the period, hers were unique in their message about what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated world.
Tuesday, December 11, 6 PM
Schools of Design for Women in Late Nineteenth-Century New York
Margaret K. Hofer, curator of decorative arts at The New-York Historical Society and
co-curator of the recent exhibit A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls
Rapid expansion of such industries as textile manufacturing and stained glass in the 1880s and 1890s in New York City opened new opportunities for women as cultural barriers toppled and “industrial art” became an acceptable career for them. Educational opportunities followed. The New York School of Applied Design for Women, Institute for Artist-Artisans and Art Students League trained numerous women to establish successful careers in industrial design.