The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris (July 2025)
Available for pre-order now from Bloomsbury Press
A deliciously entertaining, never-before-told history of a residence for American women artists in Paris from 1893 to 1914
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.
For publicity, please contact Lauren Ollerhead Fries {lauren.ollerhead@bloomsbury.com} or Lauren Wilson {lauren.wilson@bloomsbury.com}
Order ArtCurious
ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History (2020)
A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you’ve never seen it before, from an art curator and host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast
We’re all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh’s suicide, you may not be aware that there’s pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn’t die from his own hand but was accidentally killed–or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol’s most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy’s moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings?
ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world’s great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.
For publicity, please contact Rebecca Marsh, Associate Director of Publicity, Penguin Books: rmarsh@penguinrandomhouse.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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.