All About Women Artists
Find out about notable Female Painters, Printmakers and Sculptors
This site is about really great Women Artists in the past and present. It links to sites which provide a wealth of information and images about notable women artists.
These are artists whose work has attracted notable comments and/or whose artwork is very popular or attracts people from miles around. Plus the ones which have passed the art history test and are still well regarded despite having lived a long time ago.
The list is by no means complete and this site - and the linked sites (which are to Wikipedia unless otherwise stated) - will be updated periodically.
Books are included which are suitable for children - reading age levels are indicated
Amazing Women Artists
I'm constantly amazed by women artists and the stories of how they became artists and what they did after they'd made that leap of faith.
Some like Elizabeth Blackwell have the most unusual stories behind what drove them to do what they did. Others like Margaret Mee and Maria Sibylla Merian travelled thousands of miles to paint what interested them. While painters like Mary Cassatt became members of the Impressionists - one of the most influential art movements we've ever seen.
I've only begun to scratch the surface - however I will continue to develop websites for artists I'm interested in - and ones who have good stories!
Great Britain - Great Women Artists
Great women artists are organised by:
* 19th century
* 20th / 21st century
* type of tye of artist eg painter, sculptor, mixed media/installation artist
British Women Artists - Nineteenth Century
- Helen Allingham
Helen Allingham (26 September 1848 - 28 September 1926) was Victorian lady artist who was initially an illustrator of books . Latterly she painted cottages and rural scenes in Surrey and Sussex in watercolour - Gwen John
Gwendolen Mary John (22 June 1876 - 18 September 1939) is now recognised as being an accomplished painter in her own right - rather than just as the sister of Augustus John who also painted. She mainly painted portraits of female friends. 158 paintin
Women artists in the United Kingdom
These are all women artists who I have wanted to find out more about. These sites are a compendium of my bookmarks of sites which provide information and images about these artists
Hubs By Makingamark
- About Elizabeth Blackwell - Famous Botanical Artist
Find out about Elizabeth Blackwell who was the first British woman to produce a herbal and the first woman to engrave as well as draw plants. - About Margaret Mee - Famous Botanical Artist
Margaret Mee was both a botanical artist and a conservationist. This is an introduction to Margaret Mee and will be of interest to botanical artists and all those who enjoy botanical art. In 1952, age 41 she left England to go and live in the... - About Dame Laura Knight - British Artist
Laura Knight (1877-1970) was the first woman artist to be made a Dame of the British Empire.She was renowned for her drawing skills and her portraits of people at war.
British Women Painters - Twentieth Century
This is a selective list of important female painters working in the twentieth century - from the Bloomsbury set to the Young British Artists of the 1990s, from illustrators to fine artists
It also contains my "to do" list re artists I want to know more about and who I want to make websites about to help raise their profile
- Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell (formely Stephen; 30 May 1879 - 7 April 1961) is important because she painted portraits of members of the Bloomsbury Group. She and her sister Virginia Woolf and her husband Clive Bell were friends with the artists, writers and intellec - Elizabeth Blackadder
Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, DBE, RA, RSA is a Scottish painter and printmaker who has the distinction of being the first woman ever to have been elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy. She was born in 1931and continues - Dora Carrington
The British painter and decorative artist known universally as "Carrington" was Dora Carrington (29 March 1893 - 11 March 1932). She studied at the Slade and was a member of the Bloomsbury set. Her portraits of EM Forster and Lytton Strachey are both - Beryl Cook
Beryl Cook, OBE (10 September 1926 - 28 May 2008) had no formal training and did not start painting until she was middle aged. However she became a very popular English artist whose artwork was most often seen adorning prints and cards. Her talent la - Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas (b.1962) is an English artist and was one of the wilder members of the Young British Artists Movement which emerged in London in the 1990s. Her work frequently involves the appropriation of everyday materials to construct artwork which of - Marianne North
Marianne North (24 October 1830 - 30 August 1890) was a Victorian painter and enthusiast about the natural work. She travelled the world in her pursuit of plants and flora to draw and paint. Kew Gardens now has a dedicated Gallery devoted to the many - Fiona Rae
Fiona Rae (born 1963) is a British artist who is another member of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement and participated in Freeze an exhibition of art organised by Damien Hirst. In December 2011, she was appointed Professor of Painting at the R - Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley CH CBE (born 24 April 1931 in Norwood, London) is an English painter. who is one of the foremost proponents of Op art. - Jenny Saville
Jenny Saville (born in Cambridge, England, in 1970) is a contemporary British painter and associated with the Young British Artists. She is known for her large-scale painted depictions of naked women.
British Women Sculptors - Twentieth Century
Britain has produced some very notable and internationally renowned women sculptors - Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Frink and Rachel Whiteread
- Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE (10 January 1903 - 20 May 1975) was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and she helped to develop modern art (sculpture in particular) in Britain. - Elisabeth Frink
Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink, CH, DBE, RA (14 November 1930 - 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker.Paternoster by Elzabeth Frinklocated in Paternoster Square in the City of London (next to St Paul's Cathedral)Elisabeth Frink Paternoster - Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread, CBE (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993 - the first woman to win the prize. Whiteread is one of the Young Briti
Dictionary of British Women Artists
This book provides biographies of the most significant women artists in the history of art in Britain.
The aim of this book by Dr Sara Grey is to move women from the margins of art history and towards a better appreciation of the contribution they made in the past. It is regarded as a key stepping stone towards more research in this area.
Each entry provides:
- a summary of biographical information
- commentary on the artist's studies, lifestyle, travels and family.
- list of significant artworks
- list of exhibitions in which their art was hung
- membership of significant art societies.
Other British Visual Artists - 20th Century
These are artists who typically have worked in multi-media or in terms of installations
Tracy Emin was part of the BritArt movement, has represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and is now Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy of Arts
- Tacita Dean
Tacita Charlotte Dean OBE (born Canterbury, Kent, 1965) is an English visual artist who works primarily in film. She is one of the Young British Artists, and was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 1998. - Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (born 3 July 1963) is an original Britartist (a member of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s). Her artwork is eclectic and deeply personal. She is now a member of the Royal Academy of Art where she holds the p - Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing OBE RA (born 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the YBAs, and winner of the annual British fine arts award, The Turner Prize, in 1997. On 11 December 2007, Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts
British Children's Illustrators
Some of the artists who are best loved by children in Great Britain are actually illustrators
These are some of them......
- Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway (17 March 1846 - 6 November 1901), known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer. - Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 - 22 December 1943) was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children's books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebra
Women Artists: The National Museum of Women in the Arts
A small book provides an index to women artists across the ages
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art
The Guerrilla Girls - whose aim is to fight against discrimination - certainly bring a different perspective to the history of western art!
It's also a very popular book on this topic - Rated an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
Women, Art, and Society (Fifth Edition)
The definitive work on the subject, mapping a complete history of women artists from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to today
Rated an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
50 Women Artists You Should Know - How many do you know?
This book provides a selective survey of fifty influential women artists from the Renaissance to the Post-Modern era. It's a good place to start if you want a book which tells you more about women artists
Rated: 4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
13 Women Artists Children Should Know - by Bettina Shuemann
This book enables children to learn about women artists.
They include female artists such as
- Sofonisba Anguissola, a pupil of Michelangelo;
- Maria Sybilla Merian - an amazing botanist and artist in the seventeenth century;
- Mary Cassatt,
- Georgia O'Keeffe,
- Frida Kahlo,
- Louise Bourgeois, and
- Cindy Sherman
Europe - Great Women Artists
Europe - Great Italian Women Artists of the 16th century
These are Italian women painters and sculptors of the High Renaissance in Italy
- Properzia de' Rossi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Properzia de' Rossi (c. 1490–1530) was an Italian and the first female sculptor and worked during the time of the Italian Renaissance. - Plautilla Nelli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sister Plautilla Nelli TOSD (1524–1588) was a self-taught artist and she was also a Dominican nun. Her call to fame is that she is first-known female painter in Italy. - Sofonisba Anguissola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sofonisba Anguissola (1532 - 1625) - was an Italian painter who received an education in painting. She was admired and mentored by Michelangelo and was also admired by Van Dyck - both of whom met her. The Chess Game is a painting of her sistersThe Ch - Lavinia Fontana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lavinia Fontana (1552 – 1614) was the first Italian woman painter to work on a par with men - she was a painter without the protection of a nunnery or the court.Isabella Ruini as Venus (1592) by Lavinia Fontana - Wikimedia Commons - Lavinia Fontana | National Museum of Women in the Arts
Lavinia Fontana was commissioned to make not only portraits but also religious and mythological themes, which sometimes included female nudes.
BOOK: Women Artists in History: From Antiquity to the Present
This is a a textbook targeted at college students in introductory-level courses focused on
- women artists and
- the contributions of women to visual culture, women's studies courses, and surveys of western art history.
Europe - Italian Women Artists of the 17th century (The Baroque)
Italy in the seventeenth century produced Artemisia Gentileschi - one of the most well known of women artists
- Giovanna Garzoni
Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670) was an Italian painter of the Baroque era. She was unusual for Italian artists of the time for two reasons: first, in that her themes were mainly decorative and luscious still-lifes of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and - Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593 - c.1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation after Caravaggio.Self-portrait - as the Allegory of Painting (1630)by Artemisia Gentileschi [Public
Europe - Dutch and Flemish Women Artists of the 17th Century (The Dutch Golden Age)
Demand grew for smaller artwork suitable for the Dutch merchants and middle class
- Judith Leyster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Judith Jans Leyster (also Leijster) (1609 - 1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. She was one of three significant women artists in Dutch Golden Age paintingSelf Portrait (1630) by Judith Leyster - Clara Peeters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clara Peeters (1594 – c. 1657) was a still-life painter from the Flemish school - Joanna Koerten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joanna Koerten, (married name Joanna Block) (1650 - 1715) achieved fame as a silhouette cutter, the art of creating outline images from pieces of cut paper mounted on a contrasting background. Her clientele included Peter the Great and the Queen of E
Women artists in Europe - hub by makingamark
- About Maria Sibylla Merian - Botanical & Natural His...
Maria Sibylla Merian was a Naturalist, Entymologist and Botanical Illustrator and is rated as being one of the greatest ever botanical artists.
Europe - Great Women Artists of the 18th century
The 18th century saw more women painters come to the fore.
- Rosalba Carriera
Rosalba Carriera (7 October 1675 - 15 April 1757) was a Venetian Rococo painter. In her younger years, she specialized in portrait miniatures. She later became known for her pastel work, a medium appealing to Rococo styles for its soft edges and flat - Angelica Kauffman
Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman (30 October 1741 - 5 November 1807) was a Swiss-Austrian Neoclassical painter. - Anne Vallayer-Coster
Anne Vallayer-Coster (December 21, 1744 - February 28, 1818) was an 18th-century French painter. Known as a prodigy artist at a young age, she achieved fame and recognition very early in her career, being admitted to the Acadmie Royale de Peinture et - Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun
Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun (Marie Elisabeth Louise; 1755 - 1842) was a French painter, and is recognized as the most important female painter of the 18th century.
Anne Vallayer-Coster: Painter to the Court of Marie-Antoinette
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Published in association with the first comprehensive exhibition of Vallayer- Coster's paintings. Organized and published by the Dallas Museum of Art.
Exhibitions were held at:
- National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from June 30 to September 25, 2002
- Dallas Museum of Art from October 13, 2002 to January 5, 2003
- Frick Collection in New York City from January 21 to March 23, 2003;
- Musee des Beaux Arts in Nancy, France, from April 10 to June 23, 2003.
Europe - Great Women Artists of the 19th century
A number of great women artists of the 19th century are associated with Impressionism.
- Rosa Bonheur
Rosa Bonheur, born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, (16 March 1822 - 25 May 1899) was a French animal artist, realist artist, and sculptor. - Marie Bracquemond
Marie Bracquemond (1840 in Morlaix - 1916 in Paris) was a French Impressionist artist described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism alongside Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt. - Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot (January 14, 1841 - March 2, 1895) was a painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. She was described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism - Suzanne Valadon
Suzanne Valadon (23 September 1865 - 7 April 1938) was a French painter born Marie-Clmentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Socit Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She w
Hub By Makingamark
- About Mary Cassatt - American Artist
Learn about Mary Cassatt - the American Artist and Impressionist painter and printmaker who was a friend and colleague to the French Impressionists
Europe - Great Women Artists of the 20th century
- Kathe Kollwitz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kathe Kollwitz (July 8, 1867 – April 22, 1945) was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition, and the tragedy of war, in the first half of the 20th century.
Women Artists
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Judith Leyster, Elisabeth-Louise Vige-Lebrun, Angelica Kauffmann, Emily Mary Osborn, Lilly Martin Spencer, Mary Cassatt, Camille Claudel, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Georgia O’Keeffe, Kthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Dorothea Tanning, and Judy Chicago, are some of the artists highlighted in this over-sized book about women artists from the Renaissance to the present day.
North America - Great Women Artists
Famous women painters, printmakers and sculptors
USA - Great Women Artists in the 20th Century
More significant American women artists
all links are to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- Louise Bourgeois
Louise Josphine Bourgeois (1911 - 2010), is probably best know for her large spider structure called 'Maman' one of which sold for the highest price paid for a sculpture made by a woman. She was born in France and moved to the USA with her American h - Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago (born 1939) created the term "feminist art" and is best known for The Dinner Party a large project to celebrate women in history. Her work is unique and untypical and is based on important themes to do with culture and society and women' - Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler (1928 - 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She exhibited her artwork over six decades and was awarded the National medal of Arts for her contribution to painting - including the development of Color Field painti
Canada - Great Women Artists in the 20th Century
There's not a lot of people in Canada hence not a lot of painters - and not a lot of women painters. However the ones they produce are good!
- Emily Carr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 - March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a modernist and post-impressionist painting style, - Category:Canadian women painters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
79 other Canadian women painters
Mexico - Great Women Artists
- Frida Kahlo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Caldern; July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacn, who is best known for her self-portraits
Other Resources About Women in Art History
Resources about Women in Art History
Other websites which are good places to look if you want to know more about women artists
- National Museum of Women in the Arts | Home Page
Founded in 1987, NMWA is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to recognizing women's creative contributions. - CLARA Database of Women Artists
Clara is a unique interactive database containing authoritative information on 18,000 women visual artists of all time periods and nationalities. The information in Clara is drawn from the materials in NMWA's extensive Archives on Women Artists. - Women Artists in History
Listing of women artists in history across the centuries - Guerrilla Girls: All About Us
GUERRILLA GIRLS. This is the one and only Guerrilla Girls Inc website. GUERRILLAGIRLS.COM is a group of women artists fighting discrimination in politics, art, film and pop culture with facts, humor and fake fur. See our latest 2005-2006 projects, an - About Art History - Women Artists
This page is dedicated to promoting awareness and the works of women artists, almost all of whom labor(ed), not only with their respective muses, but against stereotypical roles. - AWAF - Advancing Women Artists Foundation
Women artists must be celebrated and their work must be seen. Both their past and their future must be fully reclaimed—a single artwork at a time. - Women artists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Women artists faced challenges due to gender biases in the mainstream fine art world.[1] They have often encountered difficulties in training, travelling and trading their work, and gaining recognition. - Renaissance Art and Artists - Famous Female painters
The Renaissance, the age of Enlightenment, remembered for its famous painters and sculptors. The period from 1400 to 1650 is populated with a whole host of famous men but there were also a group of talented female painters who also contributed to the
BOOKS: Dictionaries of Artists
A selection of dictionaries about women artists
Books: National Museum of Women in the Arts
These books are published and associated with women recognised by the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Note that this is arts and not just art
BOOKS: About Women Artists
Societies of Women Artists
- The Society of Women Artists
The Society of Women Artists was established in 1855, to give talented women artists an opportunity to exhibit their work. The Society continues to encourage variety and versatility and has some of the finest contemporary women artists, from all over - Antique Collecting Magazine - THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS
ANTIQUE COLLECTINGThe Journal of the Antique Collectors' ClubExtract from the May 2006 MagazineTHE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTSAnthony J.Lester is passionate that talented women artists should be given the same opportunities as their male counterparts; h - Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Inc.
a national organization to show and promote works by professional women artists - founded in 1896
Women Artists: An Illustrated History
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This is the 4th edition of this book. Nearly half of covers the period from 1960 to the modern day when women artists became an important and transforming group within contemporary art