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Art conservator Marina Vincenti with Violante Ferroni’s Saint John of God painting
Advancing Women Artists announces its end, with ‘Mission accomplished’
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AWA’s closure, an invitation.
After 70 restorations spotlighting principally Florentine female artists from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, Advancing Women Artists has announced its closure and is poised to ‘pass the baton’ to museum executives worldwide to continue the organization’s efforts to safeguard, exhibit and promote art by women. Its 14-year commitment to research, document, conserve and display the works of historic female artists has engendered a lasting legacy in Florence via partnerships with the Uffizi Galleries, the Accademia Gallery, the Complex of Santa Croce and significant venues like the Museums of San Marco, San Salvi and Santa Maria Novella, among others. The organization’s funding of art-by-women museum catalogues in Florence has facilitated the spreading of knowledge and its research has been ‘immortalized’ in several seminal books, two of which became the basis of Emmy-winning and Emmy-nominated TV documentaries. Works by a long and varied group of artists like Artemisia Gentileschi, Violante Siries Cerroti, Elisabeth Chaplin, Felicie de Fauveau and Leonetta Pieraccini Cecchi have been salvaged and seen. Particularly significant is AWA’s work, spearheaded by founder Jane Fortune, to recover the oeuvre of Plautilla Nelli through a decade of restoration efforts which provided the groundwork for the artist’s first-ever monographic show at the Uffizi Galleries in 2017 and triggered the permanent public display of her invaluable monumental Last Supper at the Santa Maria Novella complex.
In motivating the organization’s closure, AWA Director Linda Falcone provides the context: “Current trends in Florence and the world are moving towards the temporary exhibition of art by women via shows that strive to provide cultural perspectives and increase an understanding of these women’s oeuvre and identity. Where permanent exhibition is not deemed possible, shows of international scope provide immediate exposure and accessibility,” explains Linda Falcone, Advancing Women Artists Director. “Yet, for AWA to lead or follow in this direction implies large funds, extensive infrastructure and very specific expertise that go beyond the organization’s real possibilities. While AWA’s closure is sad for many, it is actually a sign of ‘victory’, not defeat. AWA was, in fact, never intended to endure in perpetuity; it was designed as an awareness-raising resource for the museums of Tuscany so that – through individual conservation projects – it could shine a light on little-known treasures and restore the forgotten half of art history to the public eye. AWA has always been a call to action, and there is ample evidence in Florence and abroad that its call will continue to resound and grow stronger as the museums themselves take on our mission. And that is truly mission accomplished!”
Dr. Stefano Casciu, Regional Director of the Museums of Tuscany, who oversees the administration of 49 museums sites in Florence and farther afield, echoes evidence of a success story, in his comment about closure: “AWA will be missed, but its work has helped rediscover art by women by bringing it to the fore and ensuring it is properly conserved and appreciated. Its work has been courageous and innovative, not just because of the restoration of single works but through the enhancement of knowledge regarding the art of women in Italy and the Florence Museums.”
In motivating the organization’s closure, AWA Director Linda Falcone provides the context: “Current trends in Florence and the world are moving towards the temporary exhibition of art by women via shows that strive to provide cultural perspectives and increase an understanding of these women’s oeuvre and identity. Where permanent exhibition is not deemed possible, shows of international scope provide immediate exposure and accessibility,” explains Linda Falcone, Advancing Women Artists Director. “Yet, for AWA to lead or follow in this direction implies large funds, extensive infrastructure and very specific expertise that go beyond the organization’s real possibilities. While AWA’s closure is sad for many, it is actually a sign of ‘victory’, not defeat. AWA was, in fact, never intended to endure in perpetuity; it was designed as an awareness-raising resource for the museums of Tuscany so that – through individual conservation projects – it could shine a light on little-known treasures and restore the forgotten half of art history to the public eye. AWA has always been a call to action, and there is ample evidence in Florence and abroad that its call will continue to resound and grow stronger as the museums themselves take on our mission. And that is truly mission accomplished!”
Dr. Stefano Casciu, Regional Director of the Museums of Tuscany, who oversees the administration of 49 museums sites in Florence and farther afield, echoes evidence of a success story, in his comment about closure: “AWA will be missed, but its work has helped rediscover art by women by bringing it to the fore and ensuring it is properly conserved and appreciated. Its work has been courageous and innovative, not just because of the restoration of single works but through the enhancement of knowledge regarding the art of women in Italy and the Florence Museums.”
Jane Fortune’s legacy
AWA was officially established in 2009, but its work began three years prior when the organization’s founder Jane Fortune encountered a painting by sixteenth-century convent artist Plautilla Nelli at Florence’s San Marco Museum and decided to fund its conservation. She was fascinated by Nelli and wondered how many other artworks by unknown female painters were in need of repair. ‘Where are the women artists?’ became her guiding question, which quickly morphed into a personal mission: making their work visible. In Florence, Fortune became known as ‘Indiana Jane’ – an appropriate nickname for an art lover from Indiana on a quest to recover lost treasures. From early days onwards, Indiana Jane knew the ultimate aim of her work: to create ‘A Space of their Own’, which she initially envisioned as a Florence-based gallery-of-sorts where AWA could exhibit paintings and sculptures by women, that had been salvaged from museum deposits. Her original vision of the project would expand over the years, as her research continued. Eventually – though she would have loved a gem-like gallery of forgotten art treasures, as a tribute to her adoptive city of Florence – Fortune realized that to give long-term, far-reaching exposure to more female artists the world over… her vision would have to go virtual.
In 2017, Indiana Jane announced that her participation and support of AWA would end with the unveiling of Plautilla Nelli’s 21-foot Last Supper, at the Santa Maria Novella Museum in 2019. Nelli would forever be her muse, but once the artist’s masterwork was salvaged for posterity, Fortune felt she had ‘done her part for Florence’ and planned to devote her energy and resources to guaranteeing the realization of her original goal, closer to home, in Bloomington, Indiana, at Indiana University’s Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. Jane would continue her work for the promotion and rediscovery of female artists until her death in 2018, the year she established the Jane Fortune Fund for Virtual Advancement of Women Artists. Its mission is to collect and share research by Advancing Women Artists, the Eskenazi Museum of Art, and Indiana University to construct the world’s largest database on international female artists from the 1500s to the 1800s – fittingly named ‘A Space of Their Own’.
In 2017, Indiana Jane announced that her participation and support of AWA would end with the unveiling of Plautilla Nelli’s 21-foot Last Supper, at the Santa Maria Novella Museum in 2019. Nelli would forever be her muse, but once the artist’s masterwork was salvaged for posterity, Fortune felt she had ‘done her part for Florence’ and planned to devote her energy and resources to guaranteeing the realization of her original goal, closer to home, in Bloomington, Indiana, at Indiana University’s Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. Jane would continue her work for the promotion and rediscovery of female artists until her death in 2018, the year she established the Jane Fortune Fund for Virtual Advancement of Women Artists. Its mission is to collect and share research by Advancing Women Artists, the Eskenazi Museum of Art, and Indiana University to construct the world’s largest database on international female artists from the 1500s to the 1800s – fittingly named ‘A Space of Their Own’.
What to look forward to
As part of its continuing legacy, the organization is in the process of compiling its 2500-plus picture archive – a selection representing projects from 2006 to 2020, which will remain viewable digitally for researchers worldwide. During AWA’s final six months, supporters in Florence and abroad can look forward to our on-going on-line interview series, ‘Restoration Conversations’, in conjunction with The Florentine. Additionally, ‘The Oltrarno Gaze’ program, which began this fall, is in the pipeline for March through May, with participation from the organization’s partners: Il Palmerino, the British Institute of Florence, Studio Puck and Atelier degli Artigianelli. (Dates and places TBA). The program includes a pop-up exhibition that will double as an in-person round-table discussion where veteran and emerging artisans relay stories capturing the dynamic identity of Florence’s evocative riverside district. The calendar will also include a topical lecture series and it foresees a grants program supporting five future artisans from Porta Romana’s Artistic Lyceum. This spring, stateside, expect the release of the AWA-inspired public television special on Plautilla Nelli and her restored works (Producers: WFYI and Bunker Film – Florence premiere in May), followed by the European broadcast of a German documentary on the lost art of women by Koberstein Film, in which the organization’s final project ‘The Art Healing’* will be featured.
The Art of Healing involves the restoration of Violante Ferroni’s two large-scale devotional works, Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims and Saint John of God Feeds the Poor scheduled for a May inauguration at Florence’s ancient Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio. “It’s an honor to be involved with AWA’s final project”, says Florence-based art conservator Elizabeth Wicks. “Over the years, the organization has given female conservators precious opportunities to work on art by women – which, in the past, was a rare occurrence. It has also brought attention to the fact that starting with the 1966 flood in Florence, art conservation has become a primarily female endeavour. The Violante Ferroni project began with having to seek out the eighteenth-century artist’s baptismal certificate to find initial clues about this creator of monumental paintings who has been invisible to history. Slowly but surely, we are reconstructing her life, studying her style, documenting her paintings and preparing for public display. She will come to life, thanks to this project, and that epitomises all AWA has strived to achieve during its journey.”
*The ‘Art of Healing’ is a multi-partner project: For a complete list of institutions and individual sponsors, please see here.
The Art of Healing involves the restoration of Violante Ferroni’s two large-scale devotional works, Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims and Saint John of God Feeds the Poor scheduled for a May inauguration at Florence’s ancient Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio. “It’s an honor to be involved with AWA’s final project”, says Florence-based art conservator Elizabeth Wicks. “Over the years, the organization has given female conservators precious opportunities to work on art by women – which, in the past, was a rare occurrence. It has also brought attention to the fact that starting with the 1966 flood in Florence, art conservation has become a primarily female endeavour. The Violante Ferroni project began with having to seek out the eighteenth-century artist’s baptismal certificate to find initial clues about this creator of monumental paintings who has been invisible to history. Slowly but surely, we are reconstructing her life, studying her style, documenting her paintings and preparing for public display. She will come to life, thanks to this project, and that epitomises all AWA has strived to achieve during its journey.”
*The ‘Art of Healing’ is a multi-partner project: For a complete list of institutions and individual sponsors, please see here.