American women artists in Paris from 1893 to 1914 found a home in the American Girls’ Art Club created by Elisabeth Mills Reid and Helen Pert Newell. Dasal (ArtCurious, 2020) traces the club’s history and tells the stories of the women who resided there in a lively and engaging narrative supported by extensive research. The building, located at 4 Rue de Chevreuse in the heart of the Sixth Arrondissement, would later serve as a Red Cross hospital and today is the site of Columbia University’s Reid Hall. Although Anne Goldthwaite, Florence Lundberg, Grace Turnbull, and Meta Vaux Warrick may not be well known today, their time at the club saw them interact with some very big names indeed, including Auguste Rodin and Gertrude Stein. Reproductions of some of their work punctuate the text, which often includes excerpts from their correspondence and newspaper articles of the day. A welcome addition to the growing body of literature about American women artists that will also appeal to readers interested in women’s history and the history of Western European culture.
The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris by Jennifer Dasal will be published in the English language by Bloomsbury in July 2025.
Jennifer Dasal is the creator and host of the ArtCurious podcast, which has been featured in multiple local and national publications and websites, including O, the Oprah Magazine, PC Magazine, ArtDaily, NPR, Salon and more. She is also the author of ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History. She holds an MA in art history from the University of Notre Dame and a BA in art history from the University of California, Davis. Dasal is the former curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, where she worked for thirteen years. She lectures frequently on art both locally and nationally. Dasal lives in Wendell, North Carolina with her family.