Sabine Lepsius, Self-Portrait, 1885. Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Photo: akg-images. Featured in 'Seeing Ourselves: Women’s Self-Portraits'.
1. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?
Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, is considered the first major work of feminist art history. The groundbreaking text is a must-read for anyone interested in art, social history and feminism. Nochlin’s fascinating arguments, expert knowledge and clear passion for the subject bring this work to life and make it irresistibly engaging.
In the essay, Nochlin looks at the many barriers that kept most Western women from the upper echelons of the art world. By dismantling the very concept of greatness, and the basic assumptions that created the male-centric genius in art, Nochlin makes the reader think again about women in art and the intellectual and moral failures that have held so many back. This fiftieth anniversary edition includes Thirty Years After, a reappraisal of the question and a look at the current state of feminist art.
Read Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? to learn more.
2. Making it Modern
During her incredible, six-decade long career, Linda Nochlin wrote a number of important, groundbreaking essays on art, feminism, modernism and modernity. In Making it Modern, we get a selection of the very best of these essays, many published here for the first time.
Nochlin believed that to be modern meant to be of one’s time. This means art historians need to understand the art of the past not only in the context of its era, but also according to the debates, movements and boundaries of the contemporary world it inhabited. Illustrated with carefully curated images, this thought-provoking and revolutionary book will have you thinking about art, history and modernity in a whole new way.
Read Linda Nochlin’s expert analysis in Making it Modern.
3. The Militant Muse
The female Surrealists of the 1930s, 40s and 50s were often young, ambitious and surrounded by men. These men tended to define and dominate the movement, making it difficult for women to make their voices heard. As a result, many female Surrealists formed close bonds with other women, relying on each other for support, encouragement and inspiration.
The Militant Muse explores the lives of the women who started out as lovers, companions and muses to the men in their movement, and went on to become acclaimed artists in their own rights. In the book, we learn about Claude Cahun and Suzanne Malherbe’s subversive activities in occupied Jersey, the experiences of Lee Miller and Valentine Penrose at the frontline and the extraordinary friendship between Leonora Carrington and Léonor Fini.
Read The Militant Muse for more incredible stories.
4. Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement
If you’re looking for a comprehensive, engaging and thought-provoking book on the female artists who played key roles in the Surrealist movement, this is it. The pioneering study looks at the lives, triumphs, challenges and incredible creative output of a remarkable group of women that included Leonora Carrington, Léonor Fini, Frida Kahlo and Dorothea Tanning.
Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement sets stories of these women against the turbulent events of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. It examines how war forced many Surrealists into exile in New York and Mexico and how these events impacted their lives and art. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in art, Surrealism and the feminist movement, this book transformed the critical fortunes of many of the artists featured.
Explore Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement to learn more.
5. Women, Art, and Society
Women, Art, and Society is one of the bestselling books in the World of Art series, and rightly so. Whitney Chadwick’s incredible study challenges the idea that great women artists are exceptions to the rule. The book acknowledges the many women whose contributions to art have been neglected or overlooked and re-examines the artworks themselves, asking whether it was simply the gender of the artist that caused them to be written off as marginal.
This revised edition features a new preface and epilogue and continues the important work of charting the evolution of feminist art history and pedagogy. A key book for anyone who wants to rethink the history of art and the place of women within it, Women, Art, and Society is an essential read.
Explore Women, Art, and Society to learn more.
6. Seeing Ourselves
Self-portraits have the power to be uniquely moving and hauntingly evocative. Seeing Ourselves is a fantastic exploration of female artists and their self-portraits. Spanning centuries, the book features work by big names like Frida Kahlo and Cindy Sherman as well as pioneering lesser-known figures from the last eight hundred years.
The two earliest images come from the twelfth century. These portraits of nuns gaze out at us across the ages and convey something that words never could. Also included in the book is an incredible series by Sofonisba Anguissola. The Italian artist charted her entire life in art, painting self-portraits from adolescence to old age. Engaging text accompanies the self-portraits and helps to breathe new life into these enigmatic faces.
Delve into Seeing Ourselves to learn more.
7. Voyaging Out
All too often, female artists are marginalised or overlooked completely when we tell the story of art. As well as being inaccurate, this partial history leaves out some of the most groundbreaking and influential artists who have ever lived, resulting in a history that’s a bit less colourful, a bit less interesting and a bit less inspiring.
Voyaging Out tells the story of modern British art history through the lens of its women. In this witty, insightful and engaging book, author Carolyn Trant fills in the gaps in traditional art histories, exploring the lives and works of a rich network of neglected women artists. By giving us a fuller picture, not only does Trant do these underappreciated women justice, she also opens the readers’ eyes to a whole new world of talented, courageous and determined artists.
Learn more about the story of women in art with Voyaging Out.
8. Women in Abstraction
Over the past few years, the role that women played in pushing at the boundaries of art in the twentieth century has been dramatically reassessed. Thanks to new research, new scholarship and new understanding, we’re finally able to see just how important female artists were in driving these pioneering creative movements.
Women in Abstraction, created to accompany the exhibition of the same name, questions the established canons and offers an alternative history of Abstraction. Featuring some of the most important female artists associated with the movement, the book sheds new light on their unique experiences and offers new reflections on their work and on the movement as a whole.
Explore the incredible artists featured in Women in Abstraction to learn more.
9. Women Artists (Art Essentials)
The women featured in this important book are as diverse, and as fascinating, as the art they created. From Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi to Judy Chicago, Ana Mendieta and the Guerrilla Girls, Women Artists (Art Essentials) gives us an in depth look at some of the key figures of the art world as well as an overview of women’s contribution to art history.
A fantastic introduction to the subject, this accessible book will give you a new appreciation for female artists and a deeper understanding of their incredible achievements. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this book is essential reading for anyone with a love of art.
Read Women Artists (Art Essentials) to learn more.
10. Judy Chicago: In the Making
Judy Chicago was one of the founding forces behind the feminist art movement of the 1970s. Talented, original and willing to push the boundaries, Judy Chicago used her art to examine the role of women in history and culture and make her audience think again. One of Chicago’s most famous works is The Dinner Party, a huge installation that turned women’s traditional domestic role on its head by setting a feast for thirty-nine remarkable women.
Judy Chicago: In the Making offers a thorough overview of her vibrant career. Tracing the artist’s practice back to its roots and giving us a deeper understanding of what motivates her, this engrossing book will give you a whole new appreciation for one of the twentieth century’s best artists.
Explore Judy Chicago: In the Making to find out more.
11. Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life
Barbara Hepworth is a rare example of a female artist who’s had the recognition and appreciation she so richly deserved. Widely acknowledged as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, Hepworth’s sculptures are now some of the most recognisable in the world, attracting a huge audience and commanding hefty price tags whenever they come up for sale.
Though best known as a sculptor, Hepworth’s talents were multi-faceted. In Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, we see how her interests in dance, music, poetry, contemporary politics, science and technology influenced her practice. We also learn how she brought these often conflicting disciplines and ideas together to form one coherent and inspirational philosophy of art and life.
Read Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life to learn more about this extraordinary artist.
12. Androgyne: Fashion and Gender
Humans have found androgyny fascinating for thousands of years, and it’s possible to see androgynous characters and motifs in paintings, plays and other artworks going right back to the time of Plato.
Androgyne: Fashion and Gender is the first visually led exploration of androgyny and its influence on art and culture. Drawing from examples in art and literature, the book gives a deeper understanding of the timeless human drive to break free from defined categories.
Learn more about the subject with Androgyne: Fashion and Gender.
13. A World History of Women Photographers
Though often overlooked and underappreciated, the powerful, inspiring and important work of female photographers has had a big impact on the artform. Women have been taking portraits, landscapes, street scenes and studio shots since the very beginning, and it’s time that their invaluable contribution is finally documented and given the audience it deserves.
This is where A World History of Women Photographers comes in. This magnificently illustrated book features 300 incredible female photographers from all corners of the globe. Active in all major photographic movements, these women never stopped documenting or questioning. In the process, they transformed the world and broke down social boundaries for good.
Leaf through A World History of Women Photographers for a fresh look at these photographic greats.
14. Paula Modersohn-Becker
One of the trailblazers of the nascent Modernist movement, Paula Modersohn-Becker had a distinctive style and focused on daring subject matter. Her perseverance in overcoming the barriers to women in the art world saw her live and train in Paris and meet many of the leading painters of the day. A prolific artist, Modersohn-Becker had produced seven hundred paintings and one thousand drawings when she died in 1907, at the tender age of thirty one.
In Paula Modersohn-Becker, expert Uwe M. Schneede shows how the artist translated her life’s experiences into her own, very distinctive, pictorial language. The book is illustrated with one hundred and twenty powerful images and given context with quotations taken from Modersohn-Becker’s letters and diaries. A fantastic study of a talented artist, this beautiful book deserves a place in your library.
Read Paula Modersohn-Becker to learn more.
15. Julia Margaret Cameron: Arresting Beauty
Julia Margaret Cameron was one of the most prolific, and most influential, portrait artists of the nineteenth century. After being given a camera by her daughter in the early 1860s, Cameron began photographing her friends, relatives and children, as well as the great and good of British society. Her beautiful photographs often resemble Renaissance paintings, with subjects dressed as characters from the Bible, Shakespeare plays and mythical stories.
Julia Margaret Cameron: Arresting Beauty showcases one hundred and twenty of the best images from the V&A’s collection. Offering a mesmerising glimpse into Victorian life and the early days of photography, this sumptuous book makes a fantastic introduction to Cameron and her photographs.
Explore Julia Margaret Cameron: Arresting Beauty to learn more.
16. Tove Jansson (The Illustrators)
Tove Jansson created some of the most loved characters from children’s literature: The Moomins. The Finnish author, novelist, painter and illustrator drew her first Moomin on an outhouse wall, before committing the entire Moominvalley to the page in the 1940s.
Tove Jansson (The Illustrators) offers a fresh, insightful look at the life, work and influence of the artist. As well as the Moomins, the book looks at Jansson’s other creative output and examines her life as an illustrator, bohemian lesbian and Finnish cultural icon.
Explore Tove Jansson (The Illustrators) to learn more.
17. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now
Whether you’re already a fan of the incredible Yayoi Kusama, or you’re just discovering her groundbreaking work, Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now will give you plenty to sink your teeth into. The major career survey, made to accompany the exhibition of the same name, charts the rise of Yayoi Kusama from mid twentieth century Asia, through 1960s New York to today.
The book is structured around six key themes, ‘Infinity’, ‘Accumulation’, ‘The Biocosmic’, ‘Radical Connectivity’, ‘Death’ and ‘Force of Life’. A selection of Kusama’s writings and personal correspondence give context to her art and provide a fascinating insight into her life, creative process and relationships with other artists.
Explore Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now to learn more about this pioneering artist.
