Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Nineteenth-Century Pioneer of Modern Art Criticism

Mining various archives and newspaper repositories, Morse Jones provides the first full-length study of this remarkable woman. Pennell, a 'New Art Critic', helped develop formalist methodology in Britain, which she applied to her mostly anonymous or pseudonymous reviews. Pennell used her platform to promote the work of ’new’ artists, including Manet and Degas, as well as championing the work of Whistler, for whom she wrote a biography. Her contributions to the art world highlight the pivotal role of criticism in the production and consumption of art in the late-nineteenth century.