Műkedvelés és professzionalizáció között. Nők képzőművészeti oktatásának intézményesülése az első világháborúig
Between Amateurism and Professionalism. Art Education of Women up to World War One

Summary/Abstract: This study focuses on the history of art education of women in Hungary from the second half of the 19th century up to World War One. It explores two inter-related research questions: Could newly-created national institutions—such as the National Institution for Training Drawing Teachers, and the Royal Painting School for Women—their training and professional qualification, change the existing pattern of public perception of female art activity as amateur and non-professional? Could the professional training of women put an end to their marginalization in the art-life, facilitating their professional activity as painters or drawing teachers? For answering these questions, the study first discusses the private art training and artistic activity of women and their public evaluation as “amateurism” before the foundation of national institutions, paying attention to the divergent social and cultural evaluation of “amateur” and “professional” art activity at a time when participation to the Hungarian national art-life was based on gender, class and ethnicity. The second part documents the institutional mechanisms employed by the ministry of education in order to create and enhance a gender division of professional training. The third part analyses the gendered educational policies as reflected in the admission of women to the two institutions, their curricula and their examinations, as compared to those of men, focusing mainly on certain subjects such as anatomy, nude drawing and applied arts. It also pays special attention to the impact of feminist movements on educational policies. The last part evaluates the job possibilities of female drawing teachers, the public appreciation of professional female painters, as well as the reaction of their associations against gender discrimination at the turn of the century. The article concludes that, instead of offering chances for a more equal competition with men in the art life and on the job market, the newly-built national educational institutions organized professional art activities according to gender criteria, in the context of two parallel but conflicting processes, namely the formation of state-financed art institutions and the gradual advancement of women’s education and professional activity.

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