As countries around the world celebrate over 100 years women’s suffrage, numerous art galleries around the globe are acknowledging the historical contribution of Women artists, which is a small step in paying respects to the generations of artists who have contributed to world art. We have created a visual blog to allow you access to recently launched women survey exhibitions in Australia and America and we highlight two online events examining different aspects of Women artists, including the RSA, Edinburgh and the MET, New York. Know Their Names! Find out more in our blog below.
Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now.
Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now is a showcase of art made by women pulled from the National Gallery’s collection and galleries across Australia in two parts. Part One is drawing to a close on the 9th of May with Part Two opening on the 12th of June – so there is still time to check it out and get excited for the next instalment! The second half of this vast presentation continues to examine the innovation of women in art – new art forms created and social commentary.
Know My Name is not a complete account; instead, the exhibition proposes alternative histories, challenging stereotypes and highlighting the stories and achievements of all women artists.
Women Take the Floor
The Boston Museum of Fine Art has rehung the third level of their Art of the Americas Wing to focus on the underrepresented work of women artists in 20th Century American Art. They have pulled over 200 works from their collection and created an interactive programme to create seven themed spaces, bringing together work by some of America’s most celebrated artists, in various disciplines, alongside women artists who have been traditionally under-recognised. This is an opportunity to examine Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Georgia O’Keeffe and Helen Frankenthaler’s work without comparison to their male counterparts.
click here to learn more about the exhibition and view their virtual gallery.
She-Oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism
She-Oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is an exciting exhibition that brings female impressionists into an examination of the genre and giving them a place in the discussion of both Australian and international Impressionism.
She-Oak and Sunlight: women of Australian Impressionism emerge from the shadows by Elizabeth FluxNGV has also newly acquired works by artists Iso Rae, May Vale, Jane Price and Ina Gregory – and it’s the lesser-known works by the women who painted alongside the now-famous men that allow the exhibition to tell a fuller story.
“This isn’t specific to Impressionism,” Hesson explains. “This is a much broader art history problem … women are underrepresented in our collection, and in most collections – and so we have been looking wherever possible to rectify that.”
American Women Artists 1840-1940: Finding Her Way
Join Rena Tobey and Andrew Lear to learn about American women artists and the challenges of a career in the arts working from the mid 1800s to the Great Depression, hosted online on Sunday 9th May at 7pm!
The Women Artists Nominated for Election to the RSA in the 1920s
A little closer to home, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is hosting an online lecture focusing on women artists proposed and seconded for election by male allies to the RSA in the 1920s. Join Alice Strang for a unique insight into Scottish Art in the early twentieth century.
This is a free but ticketed event! Please register here to book your place
Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?
For anyone keen to learn more about women in art, Linda Nochlin’s essay, widely acknowledged as the first real attempt at a feminist history of art, has been republished alongside its reappraisal ‘Thirty Years After’ in a special anniversary edition.
click here to purchase a copy of Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin
Modern Masters Women
Last summer The Scottish Gallery hosted Modern Masters Women, a celebration of the women artists that The Gallery has represented over the past 125 years.
Christina Jansen, Modern Masters WomenWomen artists have always produced art which bears the trace of their experiences and personal expression, of equal merit to any male counterpart. However, the professional occupation was male dominated and women’s art was for the most part, perceived as amateur. In the 20th century, talented, educated women began to question the social and artistic constraints placed on them and began to break free from conventional thinking. In today’s art world there is a reduced sense of male advantage over women and the need for positive discrimination has fallen away as women are regarded as vital contributors to the art world.