WOMEN IN THE PICTURE BOOK TALK 2

Fri 30 Oct 2026, 11am-12pm

This talk is in-person in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom.

Tickets are £10. Booking is essential.

Please note tickets are coming soon.

With Catherine McCormack, author, independent academic & critic

This is the second of four talks with the author Catherine McCormack inspired by her celebrated book, 'Women in the Picture: Women, Art and the Power of Looking'. Taking our Aphrodite exhibition as a starting point, McCormack will look at how the goddess of love has shaped and continues to shape definitions of female identity.

In this talk the author consider depictions of the ‘femme fatale’, witches and monstrous women from the biblical Eve and Lilith to mythological monsters such as Medusa.

She will explore how these archetypes have been reinterpreted in more empowering ways that challenge patriarchal containment of female agency.

An ancient head of Medusa on a stand made out of red coral with serpent's hair billowing out of the staring face

Head of Medusa, red coral, 200 - 1 BCE

An ethereal 19th-century showing 3 witches conjuring spells over a cauldron - the drawing is in black, browns over a washy blue background by George Jones

Macbeth's dream of the 3 witches, George Jones, 1830-1870, blue, brown & white watercolour & black ink on white paper

Other talks in the series take a similar approach in opening up three more cultural archetypes of female identity that are rooted in art history but resonate far beyond into gender politics both past and present.

Talk 1, 2 Oct: The Female Form
Talk 3, 27 Nov: The Virgin Mary & Motherhood
Talk 4, 11 Dec: Tragic Heroines

About the author

Women in the Picture book cover by Catherine McCormack

Catherine is an author, independent academic and critic. Her most recent book is Women in the Picture: Women, Art and the Power of Looking She has held teaching positions at University College London, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the University of Oxford. Catherine has a PhD in Art History from UCL where she has worked as a Teaching Fellow and in 2016 she won the University of York’s international postdoctoral writing prize.

Part of the Museum's Love and Legacy season of events.

BOOKING

This event takes place onsite in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom

Tickets are £10 each

Tickets coming shortly

If you have any questions, please email us at publicprogrammes@ashmus.ox.ac.uk