
The Club
Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris
Bloomsbury · Print & ebook · July 15, 2025
"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.
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- Who it’s for
- A vivid history of American women artists, artistic ambition, and communal life in Belle Époque Paris.
- Themes
- American women artists abroad, A refuge for ambitious single women, Women’s activism and suffrage
- Genres
- Women Artists, French History, Women's History
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"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.
Continue reading
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.
Art and Ambition
A vivid history of American women artists, artistic ambition, and communal life in Belle Époque Paris.
Come here for
- Women artists’ lives beyond the studio
- Parisian art history with a social pulse
Expect
- A researched history of a women-only residence
- Ambition, community, and the freedom of a safe home
Where it sits
| Women Artists | 76% |
|---|---|
| French History | 39% |
| Women's History | 36% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Modern Art History (to 1945)
- Artists' Lives
- French History
- Authors
- Jennifer Dasal
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury
- Published
- July 15, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- American women artists abroad · A refuge for ambitious single women · Women’s activism and suffrage
- Reading lane
- Modern Art History (to 1945)