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Period: 476 to 1450
The Middle Ages
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1142
Hildegard of Bingen - Frontispiece of Scivias
Hildegard was a German Benedictine nun born in 1098 who experienced visions. She wrote books, painted, and composed songs based on these visions. In 1147, she founded a monastery in Bingen and died on September 17, 1179. This artwork is a Romanesque-style self-portrait of Hildegard receiving a vision and sketching it on a wax tablet with the help of a monk named Volmar. It falls into the miniature art genre. The portrait highlights the potential for women in this era to become spiritual leaders. -
1150
Guda - Self Portrait
Guda was a nun and illuminator from Germany. Known for her work on the manuscript The Homiliary of Saint Bartholomew, she is one of the first women in Europe to create a signed self-portrait. The message translates to “Guda, a sinful woman, wrote and illuminated this book.” Scribes rarely signed their works during this time, leading to assumptions that monks were the primary writers of books throughout the Middle Ages, but recent research has found that many nameless scribes were women. -
Period: 1425 to
Renaissance
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1517
"Mona Lisa"
The Mona Lisa was painted by the famous Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is believed that he started working on it in 1503 and continued until 1517, when he left it unfinished. The painting is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, which was created using oil paint to create the appearance of movement and texture. Some of the landscape is blurred to create an out-of-focus effect, while the woman is painted with sharp lines. Realism is represented with lifelike colors and complex details. -
1552
Catharina van Hemessen - Portrait of a Man
Catharina van Hemessen was a Flemish Renaissance painter who learned the craft from her father. She is recognized as the first northern female painter to sign and date her work. Since she was able to break away from traditional norms of religious depictions during this era, her artwork represents her artistic freedom as a painter by focusing on small-scale portraits of the wealthy, such as the man in this portrait. He wears gold rings, holds a gold sword, and has gold embellishments on his suit. -
Period: to
17th Century
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Artemisia Gentileschi - Susanna and the Elders
Artemisia Gentileschi, born in Rome in 1593, practiced painting in her father’s workshop. At 17, she was raped and then tortured at trial. She painted a non-traditional version of Susanna and the Elders in 1610, her earliest known work. The woman is in visible distress, trying to escape the sexual assault of the elders. Sexual violence is a recurring theme in her art. It is likely this painting helped her cope with her traumatic experience. She wanted to depict the justice Susanna received. -
Elisabetta Sirani - Portia Wounding Her Thigh
Elisabetta Sirani, born in 1638 in Bologna, Italy, became an independent painter at 19. She died in 1665, believing to be poisoned by her maidservant. This piece has rich tones of crimson red and emerald green. Portia's gold dress, sash, and boots depict her as a woman of wealth and power. This painting is often debated. The feminist perspective depicts a strong-willed woman. To others, it represents subordination that sends a message of submission rather than feminism by sexualizing Portia. -
Period: to
The 18th Century
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Rosalba Carriera - Portrait of a Lady as Diana
Rosalba Carriera was born in Venice in 1673. She painted miniature portraits using pastel colors and ivory plates. She mixed pastel chalk with water to create a thick paste and applied it with dry brushes, providing a textured finish. This technique shaped the Rococo painting style in France and Italy. Carriera used pastels to create lighter portraits, emphasizing smooth porcelain skin and softening the sitter's features. -
Anne Seymour Damer - Elizabeth, née Farren
Damer was an English author, actress, and sculptress born in 1748 to a wealthy family of upper-class politicians. As the only known female sculptor in the 18th century, she faced scrutiny of her work, attire, and personal life. She was stereotyped as a lesbian due to being a woman working in a male-dominated industry. She defied gender roles by creating busts of women like Elizabeth Farren instead of the commonly studied men, emphasizing her refusal to conform to society's expectations of women. -
Period: to
The 19th Century
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"La Grande Odalisque"
Ingres, a French painter, was initially criticized for the lack of realistic anatomy in his painting depicting a chambermaid lying on a bed. Long lines show her unusually curved back. She is disproportionate, with a small head and long limbs and torso, and only one side of her face is visible. The artwork reflects Ingres' shift from Neoclassicism to Romanticism and was seen as rebellious to contemporary art styles. He aimed to show sensual feminine beauty, emphasizing the female form. -
Camille Claudel - The Waltz
Claudel was a French sculptor known for her bronze and marble works. She began a romance with her instructor, Rodin, which inspired the classical sculpture The Waltz. The piece depicts a man and a woman embracing as they dance. The lower half of the female figure is covered with a flowing skirt, which Claudel was forced to modify due to its perceived sexual and indecent nature. Despite this, she was unafraid to express her sexual desires through her representations of the female body. -
Period: to
The 20th Century (Europe)
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Period: to
The 20th Century (America)
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"Woman with a Hat"
French artist Henri Matisse helped define the revolutionary developments in visual arts. He began the Fauvism art movement by combining color, brushstrokes, and texture into his pieces. The woman in the painting wears a typical bourgeois outfit of blues, greens, and reds. She's wearing a hat and glove and holding a fan, showcasing the early 20th-century style. Matisse created texture using brushstrokes of various sizes and thicknesses. The bright colors make it both expressive and realistic. -
Romaine Brooks - White Azaleas
Brooks is an American artist who worked primarily in Paris. Her first solo show featured White Azaleas, depicting a nude woman on a bed, painted in muted brown, gray, and white tones. In the early 20th century, it was uncommon for female artists to depict nude females in their work, while male artists faced less criticism for exploring this theme. Despite potential criticism, Brooks embraced every opportunity to assert her independence and convey her unique perspective through her art. -
Käthe Kollwitz - Die Mütter (The Mothers)
Kollwitz was a German artist known for painting, sculpture, and printmaking, depicting the effects of poverty, hunger, and war on the working class. After losing her son in WWI, she created a series of woodcuts, including Die Mütter. This depicts mothers forming a human shield to protect their children from being sent to war. The physicality of making a woodcut mirrors the realities faced by women during this period. The women are tired, and no men are present, suggesting they could be widows. -
Augusta Savage - The Harp
Augusta Savage was a sculptor and an advocate for equal rights for African Americans in the arts. Her piece, The Harp, commissioned for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, symbolized African-American music of the early 20th century. The piece was destroyed in 1940 due to lack of funding. Savage aimed to honor Black contributions to music and the resilience of the Black community. She became the first Black woman to open an art gallery in America dedicated to showcasing the work of Black artists. -
Period: to
Late 20th Century/21st Century
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Mickalene Thomas - Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires
Mickalene Thomas is known for using rhinestones, enamel, and colorful acrylics in her pieces. These pieces challenge conventional beauty standards and highlight the LGBTQ community. She aims to empower black women by reimagining iconic Western paintings and including them in the paintings. Her purposeful choice of making this piece 9ft tall and 20ft wide is a physical and symbolic statement. It is intended to claim space in art exhibitions that white male artists have historically dominated. -
Roos Van Der Vliet - Storytellers V
Van der Vliet is a Dutch hyperrealist artist. This art is part of a 27-piece collection. The model's brown hair is wrapped around her mouth and nose, evoking imagery of a Niqab. Only her eyes are visible, portraying a deep sense of sadness as they connect with the viewer. Through intricate details, her hair is used as a form of expression and censorship. This art symbolizes the silence and oppression that women face across different cultures and throughout history, spanning into the present day.