Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

These days art historians resort to out of the norm resources more frequently. Diaries and memoirs—even letters—play an important role to get to know the artists’ lives and the context in which they developed their careers. In the case of women artists, this kind of resources are even more interesting, and as a consequence, many women’s writings are being recovered and published. However, we must keep in mind that these autobiographical writings have fundamental differences. Whereas diaries are written at the same time as the narrated events, memoirs imply the action of remembering. In this presentation we will review how women’s diaries and memoirs can be useful for the study of art history and how they can be used to rewrite the narrative of the discipline, proposing other stories. To that end, we analyse some specific cases from the Spanish republican exile. Manuela Ballester fled to Mexico where she had to deal with the difficult situation of exile. In her diaries, she speaks about that, but also about how she had to take care of her family and help her husband’s artistic career while she tried to develop her own. On the other hand, Victorina Durán, exiled in Buenos Aires, narrated her exciting life as figurine maker, but also as a modern lesbian and independent woman. Finally, both autobiographical writings help to understand the women’s exile experience, from different countries and family situations, but also different sexualities and artistic practices.