The Dinner Party
Mixed-media installation consisting of a ceremonial banquet table on a tiled platform. • Judy Chicago (and a team of over 400 volunteers)
Style & Movement
Feminist Art, Installation Art, Post-Minimalism
Medium & Technique
Ceramic (china painting), embroidery, needlework, silk, and 2,304 hand-cast porcelain floor tiles. The techniques include traditional feminine handicrafts such as quilting, crochet, and petit point, alongside industrial ceramic casting.
Creation Period
1974–1979
Dimensions & Format
Equilateral triangle table measuring 48 feet (14.63 m) on each side; the installation area is approximately 5,760 square feet.
Subject Description
A triangular table set for 39 mythical and historical women, divided into three wings representing periods from prehistory to the 20th century. Each place setting features a hand-painted china plate with a vulvar motif and an embroidered runner. The floor, known as the Heritage Floor, is inscribed in gold with the names of an additional 999 women of achievement.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
Excellent. The work was fully restored in the late 1990s and is now in a permanent, climate-controlled environment at the Brooklyn Museum.
Estimated Market Value
Indeterminable/Institutional Value (as a unique, monumental museum-piece, its value would likely exceed $25-50 million if it were ever to reach a private market, though it is considered a national treasure).
Auction Estimate
N/A - Non-market asset permanently housed in a museum collection.
Provenance History
Commissioned/Created by Judy Chicago through Through the Flower Corp.; toured internationally for 15 years; donated by the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation to the Brooklyn Museum in 2002.
Art Historical Significance
Considered the masterpiece of 20th-century Feminist Art. It reclaimed female history and 'feminine' crafts for the high-art cannon. It served as a landmark for collaborative practice and remains a pivotal piece in the history of installation art.
Notable Features
The central 'Heritage Floor' made of luster-glazed tiles and the specific 'butterfly' or 'vulvar' imagery on the plates that evolves from flat to three-dimensional as the historical timeline progresses.
Condition Issues
Historically suffered from wear during tours (fraying silks, ceramic chips), but these were addressed during a comprehensive conservation project prior to its permanent installation.
Conservation Recommendations
Maintain strict UV-free lighting to prevent silk fading, rigid temperature and humidity controls (approx. 70°F and 50% RH), and vibration-free mounting for the delicate ceramics.