Iris Clert’s Modern Matronage

Abstract

The legacy of Iris Clert (1918–86), whose eponymous gallery was central to the emergence of the avant-garde in Paris in the 1950s and 1960s, has often been framed as a story of vanity, spectacle and self-promotion. Considering Clert’s unconventional approach to running her gallery in the context of postwar expectations of women’s behaviour, the article recasts Clert as a model of modern matronage and situates Clert within a history of women who have used arts leadership to assert individuality and influence culture. In Clert’s case, this meant applying traditionally ‘feminine’ domestic skills to her public work, in order to upend gallery conventions and reshape the culture of the avant-garde.