This course focuses on women artists from approximately 1860-1940 who worked within the styles of different avant-garde movements, including Impressionism, Symbolism, Expressionism, and Surrealism. The position of women within avant-garde movements was complex as they fought for professional advancement while often being barred from mainstream art academies and facing limited opportunities. Nevertheless, many women carved out spaces of representation and their work critically adds to our understanding of avant-garde movements. We will examine the art production by women artists and the challenging artistic milieus they navigated during this time. We will also consider the current scholarship on women artists and the lenses through which art historians have previously studied them.