A cooperative effort of female and male artisans, The Dinner Party celebrates traditional female accomplishments such as textile arts (weaving, embroidery, sewing) and china painting, which have been framed as craft or domestic art, as opposed to the more culturally valued, male-dominated fine arts. Many of the plates feature a butterfly- or flower-like sculpture representing a vulva. Įach place setting features a table runner embroidered with the woman's name and images or symbols relating to her accomplishments, with a napkin, utensils, a glass or goblet, and a plate. Wing I honors women from Prehistory to the Roman Empire, Wing II honors women from the beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation and Wing III from the American Revolution to feminism. There are 13 place settings on each of the table's sides, making 39 in all. The table is triangular and measures 48 feet (14.63 m) on each side. The Dinner Party was created by artist Judy Chicago, with the assistance of numerous volunteers, with the goal to "end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record."
Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Since 2007, it has been on permanent exhibition in the Elizabeth A. It was retired to storage until 1996, as it was beginning to suffer from constant traveling. Despite art world resistance, it toured to 16 venues in six countries on three continents to a viewing audience of 15 million. The Dinner Party was produced from 1974 to 1979 as a collaboration and first exhibited in 1979. (The man, Kresilas, was included by mistake, as he was thought to have been a woman called Cresilla.) The table stands on The Heritage Floor, made up of more than 2,000 white luster-glazed triangular tiles, each inscribed in gold scripts with the name of one of 998 women and one man who have made a mark on history. The settings rest on elaborately embroidered runners, executed in a variety of needlework styles and techniques. Each plate, except the ones corresponding to Sojourner Truth and Ethel Smyth, depicts a brightly colored, elaborately styled vulva form. Anthony, and Georgia O'Keeffe are among the symbolic guests.Įach place setting includes a hand-painted china plate, ceramic cutlery and chalice, and a napkin with an embroidered gold edge. Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Empress Theodora of Byzantium, Virginia Woolf, Susan B. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork, it functions as a symbolic history of women in civilization.
The Dinner Party is an installation artwork by feminist artist Judy Chicago.