Griselda Pollock Defends 1974 Women's Exhibition Against Critic

In a letter dated 27 April 1974, art historian Griselda Pollock responded to Caroline Tisdall's negative review of the exhibition 'c.7,500', a show of women artists held in London. Pollock criticized Tisdall for dismissing the exhibition as a 'distressing disappointment of secondraters' and for ignoring the difficulties the organizers faced in securing funding and space, noting that the show was hung, supervised, and publicized by volunteers with minimal support from the Arts Council of Great Britain. She argued that Tisdall underestimated the complexity of injustice against women, which was explored in a series of nine evening workshops held during the exhibition, covering topics such as 'Women and Revolution' and 'Sex Bias and Criticism'. Pollock contended that Tisdall's reaction—using the phrase 'stinks of the ghetto'—proved the need for such an exhibition, highlighting the double standard where all-male exhibitions are seen as 'art' while all-female shows are treated as political statements. She also defended the content of the works, which addressed women's experiences with makeup, dress, and sexual objectification, calling them witty and insightful rather than superficial. The letter was later published in the 1987 book 'Framing Feminism: Art and the Women's Movement 1970–1985' edited by Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock.