The Club
Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris
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The Club
Narrated by:
Jennifer Dasal
Buy Now for £14.51
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Narrated by:
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Jennifer Dasal
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By:
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Jennifer Dasal
"Through masterful research and sparkling prose, The Club feels like an exclusive invitation to a Parisian enclave during an era of artistic and social transformation." —Michael Finkel, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Art Thief
A deliciously entertaining, never-before-told history of a residence for American women artists in Paris from 1893 to 1914.
In Belle Époque Paris, the Eiffel Tower was newly built, France was experiencing remarkable political stability, and American women were painting the town and gathering at a female-only Residence known as The American Girls' Club in Paris. Opened in 1893, The Club was the center of expatriate living and of dedication to a calling in the fine arts, and singularly harbored a generation of independent, talented, and driven American women.
Now in The Club, curator, art historian, and podcast host Jennifer Dasal presents the never-before-told story of the Club, the philanthropists who created it, and the artists it housed. These women forged connections in the arts and letters with luminaries like Auguste Rodin and Gertrude Stein or became activists through their relationships with the likes of Emmeline Pankhurst. But just as importantly, these women's lives revealed the power of the Club itself, and the way that having a safe home for single women of ambition allowed them to grow as teachers, artists, suffragists, and people.
For readers interested in women's lives as captured in books like The Barbizon, art history buffs who loved Ninth Street Women, and armchair travelers longing to visit Belle Époque Paris, The Club is a captivating, colorful new history.©2025 Jennifer Dasal (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic reviews
A full history of a long-forgotten establishment . . . [a] wealth of historical detail . . . [and] fine analysis of a number of artworks.
[A] lively history . . . Drawing on extensive research, including memoirs and letters, Ms. Dasal paints a vivid picture of daily life for the Club’s young artists.
Through masterful research and sparkling prose, The Club feels like an exclusive invitation to a Parisian enclave during an era of artistic and social transformation.
Jennifer Dasal's captivating history immerses readers in late 19th and early 20th-century Paris, where the struggles and successes of the American Girls' Club resident artists resonate powerfully with contemporary issues.
Jennifer Dasal has written a true gift to the story of art history, one she delivers with passion and scrupulous research, shining a light on the untold story of American woman artists of Belle Epoque Paris and the world surrounding them. The Club is an essential addition to any library of art history.
The story of Paris as central to the history of art is a familiar one we might think we know. Enter Jennifer Dasal's eye-opening account of the Club, a place thriving in the heart of Belle Époque Paris and beyond where American women seeking education and opportunity so often denied them at home found art, friendship and mutual support for their unprecedented work, and lives. The Club was essential to generations of pioneering American women artists, and so is Dasal's wonderful book in bringing their stories to new light.
Reading The Club is like being slipped the password to a speakeasy or directions to an exclusive art show happening in a bohemian corner of Paris . . . Dasal paints an engaging picture deeply rooted in primary sources and with seamless integration of archival materials, personal letters, and contemporary accounts . . . [T]his is a joyful and vibrant portrait of individuals with aspirations, struggles, and triumphs . . . The Club is a captivating look at a glamorous and singular part of the history of women in the arts, and a testament to the power of community and support.
Dasal brings to light a cast of talented, courageous women whose lives, and art, defied expectations; her engaging history pays homage to the singular space that nurtured them. A fresh look at female artists.
Evocative . . . Bring[s] the era to vivid life . . . Readers will be engrossed.
Engaging . . . Dasal does an excellent job of placing these adventuresome artists into the social milieu of their era . . . Thoroughly researched . . . this book will appeal to readers interested in history, art, and sociology.
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