Art of the Year - 1979

The 1970’s art world showed the continued influence of movements from the 1960’s such as Minimalism, Post-Minimalism and Performance Art. The mid-70’s brought the return of painting as a serious medium for avant-garde artists. Feminist Art, Land Art and Photorealism also became increasingly prevalent during this era, largely due to evolutions in the broader social and political climates. 

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago, Mixed media, 1979.

The Dinner Party is an installation piece by artist Judy Chicago. Widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork, it offers a symbolic history of women in Western civilization. There are 39 elaborate place settings arranged along a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women including Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Empress Theodora of Byzantium, Virginia Woolf, Susan B. Anthony, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Each unique place-setting has a hand-painted china plate, ceramic flatware and chalice, and a napkin with an embroidered gold edge. The settings rest upon elaborately embroidered runners in a variety of needlework styles and techniques. The dinner table stands on The Heritage Floor, comprised of more than 2,000 white luster-glazed triangular-shaped tiles, each inscribed in gold scripts with the name of one of 999 women who have made a mark on history. Since 2007, it has been on permanent exhibition in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, New York.