ABSTRACT
During most of the nineteenth century, the art press shared a major concern with art schools: not whether women should or could become serious contributors to the art world, but how they should go about it. By mid-century it was obvious to nearly everyone that women must have decent, dignified employment, but few were willing to give up the persistent dream, born of the social reshuffiing of the industrial revolution, of a domestic haven presided over by a devoted and selfless angel. The truth was that many women needed more intellectual and creative outlets and a great many women needed or wanted financial self-sufficiency. The conflicts arising from an ideal and a reality led to serious efforts at compromise, and art was seen as a possible money-maker for middle-class women for whom governessing was slavery, and for whom domestic employment or shop keeping were deemed unacceptable. Painting, designing, and decorative work were ladylike, productive and dignified occupations, especially since they reflected qualities apparently gifted to women by nature. Further, middle-class girls were taught early on to draw a little, paint a little, and to find ways to make themselves and their surroundings pleasing and attractive. Turning these pursuits into genteel careers seemed an ideal compromise between necessity and respectability.
