The Heidi Chronicles

The Heidi Chronicles Summary | Prologue to Act 1 Summary

In a lecture hall in New York, 1989, Heidi Holland is speaking to her art history class, reviewing material for an upcoming midterm exam. Her specific subject is the great art of women, none of who are represented in her students' art history textbooks.

Specifically, Heidi introduces her students to three artists. Sofonisba Anguissola, a 16^th century portrait painter who was an equal to Titian. Heidi considers Clara Peters the greatest artist, male or female, of the 17^th century. Finally, Heidi confidently criticizes the 19^th century American genre painter, Lily Martin Spencer. In discussing one of the paintings, Heidi says it reminds her of a high school dance, where "you hang around … waiting to see what might happen."