16.3 Art Inquiry Projects: Women Artists

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Girl in a black hat with a ribbon, 1901/1902. Pastel on paper. Public Domain.

By Mary Cassatt – https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/american-art-2/girl-in-a-hat-with-a-black-ribbon, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123597733

The museums of the world are filled with paintings of women—by men. Ask around and you’ll find that most people struggle to name even one female artist from before the twentieth century. Yet women have always made art, even though, over the centuries, every discouragement was—and, as in many ways, still is—placed in their way… Feminism has shaken up how art history has been read and written. For the first time, artists who were previously ignored, patronized, marginalized or ostracized due to their gender, race, sexuality, or class, are being recognized for their originality and resilience. The infinitely varied work of these artists embodies the fact that there is more than one way to understand our planet, more than one way to live in it and more than one way to make art about it. This new art history celebrates and champions difference—the very lifeblood of art. (Jennifer Higgie, The mirror and the palette, 2021, pp. 3-4).

This section will highlight some of the work of well-known women artists.  The questions for inquiry and research are identified below.

Questions for Reflection and Further Research