The Dinner Party

The Dinner Party is an art installation that was created by artist Judy Chicago from 1974 through 1979. Chicago made the art work with the help of many volunteers. It was first shown in 1979 at the at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It is considered to be an important early part of the Feminist Art movement. It was purchased by the Brooklyn Museum in 2002.

The table is triangular and measures 48 feet (14.63 m) on each side. There are 13 place settings on each of the table's sides, making 39 in all. 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.

Each 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. Many of the plates feature a butterfly- or flower-like sculpture representing a vulva. A cooperative effort of female and male artisans, The Dinner Party is created with artistic techniques historically thought to be work done by women. These techniques include  textile arts (weaving, embroidery, sewing) and china painting.

Women represented in the place settings
The 39 women with places at the table are:

Wing I: From Prehistory to the Roman Empire
1. Primordial Goddess 
2. Fertile Goddess  
3. Ishtar 
4. Kali 
5. Snake Goddess 
6. Sophia 
7. Amazon 
8. Hatshepsut 
9. Judith 
10. Sappho 
11. Aspasia 
12. Boadicea 
13. Hypatia

Wing II: From the Beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation
14. Marcella 
15. Saint Bridget 
16. Theodora 
17. Hrosvitha 
18. Trota of Salerno 
19. Eleanor of Aquitaine 
20. Hildegard of Bingen 
21. Petronilla de Meath 
22. Christine de Pisan 
23. Isabella d'Este 
24. Elizabeth I  
25. Artemisia Gentileschi 
26. Anna van Schurman

Wing III: From the American to the Women's Revolution
27. Anne Hutchinson 
28. Sacajawea 
29. Caroline Herschel 
30. Mary Wollstonecraft 
31. Sojourner Truth 
32. Susan B. Anthony 
33. Elizabeth Blackwell 
34. Emily Dickinson 
35. Ethel Smyth 
36. Margaret Sanger 
37. Natalie Barney 
38. Virginia Woolf 
39. Georgia O'Keeffe

References

Category:1979 works
Category:Installation art