Your TOP favorite women artists
Last month we ran a social media campaign highlighting YOUR favorite women artists to celebrate release of our magazine. We asked our audience and supporters to share the most inspirational women artists from history or today, and here are the results. Participants shared their thoughts on the importance of seeing women artists in the museums, and took a moment to introduce themselves and their work.
We kicked off the event by remembering the accomplishments of Pauline Powell Burns and Mary Cassatt, both born around May and June. Women artists have been asked to carry the burden of proving their worth in order to be seen on the same level as male counterparts. We won't stop until there is equality in the world.
Pauline Powell Burns (1872–1912), also known as Pauline Powell, was an American painter and pianist. She was the first African-American artist to exhibit paintings in California in 1890. Powell was also a pianist who gave recitals around the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.
1. Aida Wilde
@jasmine_mansbridge shared work of contemporary artist @aida_wilde.
"'Legacy' was born as a reaction and response to the ever-rising popularity of selfies and influencers on popular social media platforms. Most of the photos have nothing substantial to offer other than a great "duck face" or perfectly coiffed & heavily coloured-in eyebrows with a well-curated, pastel matched wardrobe (or in some cases, the lack of). One couldn't help but wonder if this is as good as it can get out there? The "vessel" is ever changing, nothing remains the same and the memory of beauty fades..." - #AidaWilde. Photo via @artinadplaces.
Jasmine says that seeing women artist in museum and galleries helps to level the playing field and encourages other women to pursue a career in art.
Jasmine is a painter but also makes installations and sculptures, uses geometric forms to tell stories.
She lives in Australia and you can find her at @jasmine_mansbridge.
2. Hilma Af Klint
@maryannestudio:
"Hilma Af Klint was an artist at the turn of the century, who created a body of work exploring the possibilities of abstraction years before Kandinsky, Malevich & Mondrian, who are the “acknowledged” fathers of abstraction. As I looked into her work and her studies, I realized I see the world in the same way she did. She became for me a true heroine and champion of the invisible, the unnoticed, and the impermanent.
The significance of seeing women’s art in museums and galleries is that it brings the lens on art back into balance. Academics have been compiling statistics on the representation of women in art which point to a significant imbalance - the art world is not one of gender parity!"
Mary Anne Molcan is Canadian printmaker specializing in unique hand carved and hand-pulled Lino block prints. Inspired by the natural world these original artworks will enhance any decor. Mary is an artist interested in human behaviour. Her practice explores the intersection between the natural world and human values. Find her @maryannestudio or https://maryannemolcan.com/
3. Frida Kahlo
Carolyn's @carolynj (swipe to see her work) favorite historical woman artist is Frida Kahlo!
"I adore Frida Kahlo! She inspires me with her determination and resilience. Her art reflected her life. She expressed her pain in her art in a way that is timeless and beautiful and hard sometimes to look at. Her style is iconic. She surrounded herself with nature, animals, beauty and love."
"Women are all important. Their presence should be there [in museums and galleries] without question."
Carolyn Gavin is a painter of flowers, landscapes, abstracts and the beauty she finds in the world. Check out her incredible work - @carolynj
4. Edmonia Lewis
Adrienne Norris @afrotriangle about her favorite artist Edmonia Lewis":
"The artist who inspires me is one many of us haven't heard of. I know I hadn't until a few years ago. Edmonia Lewis was a sculptor of mixed African-American and Ojibwe (Native American) heritage. She left upstate New York to work and study in Rome and gained international acclaim both in Europe and in the US DURING THE CIVIL WAR! She created marble busts of civil war heroes, depicted scenes from African-American and Native American life, and reimagined iconic historical moments like the death of Cleopatra."
What is the significance of seeing women artists on the walls of museums and galleries?
"I would have had an easier time convincing my parents that art was a good career choice. All joking aside though, with the ways in which the worlds of women and men have historically been separated, womxn artists bring a different perspective by what they choose to portray. The emphasis on what's important is often placed closer to home. More recently, womxn artists are using their work to speak out against the types of injustices they experience, giving us ways to talk about these things more openly."
Adrienne uses her artwork to tell the stories of womxn and marginalized people. Find her @afrotriangle on social media and Afrotriangledesigns.com
5. Florine Stettheimer
message from one of our artists Maggie Burns as a response to sharing YOUR favorite woman artist!
"A couple of years ago, as a Christmas gift, my husband gave me a long weekend trip to New York to see the Andy Warhol show at the Whitney and the Hilma Af Klint show at the Guggenheim. Long story short, I made it into a go-visit-multiple-museums trip. I was in heaven.
On my trip I saw a painting by Florine Stettheimer, "Liberty" at the Whitney. I was instantly drawn to the painting and the frame. The next day I was at the Met, and I saw "The Cathedrals of Broadway" and I became obsessed. Her use of color, her humour and her feminine style was what attracted me. I had to find out more. So I did some research and found out that she was a painter, a poet, a designer, a socialite. She did not do gallery shows because her style at the time was not popular, so she hosted her own salons. She did things her own way. She was a feminist of her time. Which made me love her more!
The fact that she was not widely recognized until much, much, later is a shame. Seeing more women artists on the walls of galleries and museums means that EVERYONE is included in the art world. That it's okay to be you and put out art that represents your point of view without the fear of appearing "too feminine" or "too pretty". If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if we all have stories to tell, then why not show more art from women?
I am a self taught artist trying to express my personal truth and story. I paint and collage, working mostly with paper. You can find me at maggierburns.com or on Instagram @maggieramirezburns.”
6. Alicia Penalba
This artist suggestion is from Bindia Hallauer @artbybindia:
Alicia Penalba (1913-1982) was an Argentinian Impressionist & Modern Sculptor. Her monumental work was featured in several exhibitions at key galleries and museums around the world. Her works are part of the non-figurative abstract art movement and tie in with the work of Martin, Hajdu, François Stahly, Karl-Jean Longuet, Simone Boisecq and Marta Colvin who staged a renewal of the sculptural form from 1950. Her artworks are a major force in the history of non-figurative art.
The art world continues to be undoubtedly ruled by men. Only 11 percent of all museum acquisitions between 2009 and 2019 were pieces by women. Female artists’ works are still valued less than those of their male peers. There is a wide array of women artists from diverse backgrounds who need to be recognized for their talents and solo shows at museums.
I am an abstract expressionist painter, based in Henderson, Nevada, USA. Life experiences and extensive world travels are the inspiration for my abstract paintings.
Website artbybindia.com
Instagram @artbybindia
7. Michelle Samour
Michelle Samour. Mapping Borders and Boundaries is her latest series of works that appeals to the artist’s ancestral Palestinian past as a means of further engaging in the politico-geographic concepts of homeland, exile, and diaspora. She maps the historical (dis)possession of Palestine, ultimately decimating borders, boundaries, and territorial constructs into geometric abstraction. The work critically investigates the meaning of shape/land/form within the guise of traditional Palestinian craft, including the vibrant colors of textiles and opulent Mother-of-Pearl carving. This work is now on view in a museum in the Boston vicinity, Fuller Craft Museum. The works are luminous-composed in an array of media such as foil, paint, wood, pearl, and beeswax, and mesmerizing.
“Using the tropes of indigenous design that I grew up with—oriental rugs, Palestinian costume, and embroidery, mother of pearl/abalone handiwork—my work celebrate the cultural history of this region while at the same time subversively critiquing it,” Samour explains.“I am interested in drawing the viewer into a narrative whose history of conflict contrasts with the work's aesthetic richness.”
Debra Weisberg @debraweisberg shares: "What I love about Michelle’s work is that though informed by the mire of Middle Eastern politics and displacement, the visual results are celebratory. The Palestinians are not merely displaced refugees but a vibrant people with a rich art making history spearheaded by women. Because Michelle's hand is so evident in the making of the work, traditional Palestinian craft and aesthetic becomes imbued with a highly personal vision. The subversion is intricately intermixed with the aesthetic."
About Debra's work: "All of my work is rooted in drawing. I draw from a faded memory bank of images, root systems, lava flows-archetypal systems of growth, flow and movement-that I wrestle into an abstracted, experiential state that totters between collapse and renewal.
8. Niki de Saint Phalle
Özlem Thompson @ozlemsorluthompson shares her favorite artist with us and why it's important to see equal representation in the museums and galleries:
"One of my favourite female artists is Niki de Saint Phalle, I find her whimsical and colourful art brings joy and positivity.
The significance of seeing women artists on the walls of museums and galleries brings equality. In this century if we are thinking of creating colonies in Mars, we should prioritise our creative women power first."
Özlem aims to give joy and positivity with her work. Check out her vibrant pieces @ozlemsorluthompson
9. Annegret Soltau
An incredible artist Sara Rossberg @sararossberg, who was published in our Inaugural Issue this spring, has been a committed artists for five decades. Sara shares her favorite woman artist and why it's important to uphold equality in representation.
"I would like to put forward a fantastic feminist artist who has been fighting for her cause since the 70s: @annegretsoltau. She was one of the first artists to address the subject of motherhood and was much maligned for it in her early days. I admire her immensely!
We need women artists to be seen to represent the views and feelings of the other 50% of humanity. Our opinions and efforts are just as valid as men’s and are hugely underrepresented. Both sides should have their say equally."
10. Sofonisba Anguissola
@asskickingfemaleartists who is an art history student dedicated to putting classical female artists in the spotlight shares the work of Sofonisba Anguissola.
"I chose to highlight Sofonisba Anguissola, an Italian Late Renaissance painter, who played a bigger role for female artists than some can imagine. She received studies in the fine arts and was apprenticed to several local painters. This apprenticeship paved the way for female artists who also wanted to learn the art. Vasari wrote that Sofonisba ‘has shown greater application and better grace than any other woman of our age in her endeavors at drawing; she has thus succeeded not only in drawing, coloring and painting from nature, and copying excellently from others, but by herself has created rare and very beautiful paintings.’ Sofonisba’s talent was even noticed in Rome by none other than Michelangelo!
The European royalties also caught wind of her talent. The Spanish Queen, Elizabeth of Valois invited the young painter over teach her. Later on, she became the official court painter of king Philip II.
In other words, she was a role model and played a pioneering role.
The significance of seeing women artists on the walls of museums and galleries lies in the fact that for centuries women have been fighting for their place in the art world. Should their fight go unnoticed because their art is supposedly worth less than men's? Museums think they are doing a good job if they show one female artist and shrug off the problem. Inclusivity is far from being a reality in the arts. Museums need to set aside their prejudices and when this becomes a fact, critics will see that women are capable of much more than they thought."
11. Elisabeth Cummings
Our directory artist from Germany, Petra Schott @petra.schott.art shared her favorite woman artist:
"I admire the Australian artist Elisabeth Cummings. I love the luminosity of her artwork, the freedom in her composition and the world of colours she opens up in her paintings. For me she unfolds the narrative of a female view on nature, landscapes, organic growth. - For me female artists bring a specific quality of their works, the female view, female colours and shapes. Not acknowledging these artists by exposition in museums means to cut off one half of the artists from the public."
Petra's own artwork is focussed on bringing to life inner visions, ideas and emotions from past and the present moment in a figurative- abstract way. She wants to make an unseen world, its magic and its secrets, visible.
12. Elaine DeKooning
"Elaine DeKooning is an amazing portrait painter that spent her career helping Willem DeKooning from self imploding. She stood by him when he couldn’t stand up for himself. Meanwhile she learned how to capture the spirit of a person without adding every detail. She painted John F Kennedy’s portrait and has several pieces showing at the National Portrait Gallery. Her work is just starting to receive the notoriety it deserves.
Women artists have often been overlooked in the art world. In Elaine’s day it was considered more of a hobby and not taken as seriously as the men’s work. We need to promote each other and help these women artists abd tell their stories. "
Shared by Michelle Marra @michellemarrastudio who is an abstract expressionist that uses color and texture to tell a story.
13. Emily Carr
"Emily Carr was one of the most important Canadian artists of the 20th century, but not well known internationally. Her work was a highly emotional and individual representation of the BC landscape and her works vibrated with life force. I am so inspired by her moody, emotional telling of the Canadian landscape, and her beautiful storytelling of the BC coast and it’s indigenous history.
The significance of seeing women’s art in museums and galleries is that it provides an elevated space for the powerful expressions of the feminine. It calls on us to question our masculine-normative social and political landscape, and through this questioning, possibly affect the world and bring changes by way of an inspired empathy towards each other and our natural world."
Jenny Kastner, who shared her favorite artist with us and why it's important to see an equal representation of women artists, is a Canadian artist interested in exploring intensely kinetic landscape paintings, creating compositions that act as portals to deeper imagined and nostalgic relationships to place. Her works can be found in private collections around the world. You can find her @from_the_forest and her website www.jennykastner.com
14. Néle Azevedo
Michelle Gallagher @mgallagherartwork shared:
- Néle Azevedo...Brazilian artist @neleazevedo “Melting Men” ice sculptures.
She creates vast installations of tiny ice sculptures.....echoing climate awareness, impermanence of life.
What is the significance of seeing women artists on the walls of museums and galleries?
- Women are in the majority in numbers only..too much has been decided by men for too long..there should be a balance in every aspect of life..women artists have paved the path for many art movements and are only now in the 21st century getting a few crumbs...we deserve an equal share of the loaf.
Describe yourself, your art/work, and where to find you.
- I am interested in the representation of women and the feminine, inspiration comes from observations in my own life and the lives of the women in my family and society at large. Originally from Ireland, living in Germany.
15. Carrie Mae Weems
"Carrie Mae Weems is an American artist who uses photography, video and mixed media installations, to examine issues of class, sexism, racism and American culture. The elegant and forceful bluntness of her work was what first drew me to her work. Forcing you to look at sometimes uncomfortable images and always making you reexamine your relationship to them, especially as a white person.
Seeing her work in a museum setting was a powerful experience. Especially since it was in the Smithsonian institution in Washington DC where I grew up almost solely exposed to white male artists. So many of us do not realize that we have been fed a diet of only white male art through museums our whole lives, and it is a limiting experience. I remember crying as a teenager at an exhibition of Kathe Kollwitz at the National Gallery. It was so emotional to see her work, not just because her work embodies emotion, but also because it was the first solo show I had ever seen by a woman at the museum.
By representing women artists in museums, there is a ripple effect that validates and amplifies women as artists at every level, and we need to see this more.
I am one half of the artist/sister collaboration KX2, combing metal and painting to create abstract geometric sculpture. You can see our work at @KX2art www.KX2art.com"
16. Tarrah Krajnak
Natasha Rudenko is sharing the work of Tarrah Krajnak:
”I would like to share the work of an amazing artists Tarrah Krajnak @tarrahkrajnak_studio
I think her revisiting of Ansel Adams’ and Edward Weston’s images and recontextualizing them within her experience as a Latina artist in her project Master Rituals is an amazingly profound way if talking about photographic medium and its cultural, historic and contemporary relation to the experiences of non white non male subjects and perspectives.
I think the significance of seeing the work of women, especially women of color, trans women and non binary fems, on the gallery walls is hard to overestimate as it enriches us with the perspectives and gives voice to the stories of underrepresented human experiences as well as informs our understanding of our cultural and social structures as a whole.
Natasha Rudenko @nata_of_amber is a visual artist and educator currently based in Los Angeles. I investigate personhood and identity constructs through photographic self-portraiture, performance and other multimedia approaches.”
17. Katarina Janeckova Walshe
Jennifer Smith highlights the work of Katarina Janeckova Walshe @katarinajaneckova rinajaneckova. Her portrayal of female sexuality, motherhood and the domestic is refreshing and empowering in the art world.
"It's important for young girls and young female artists to have other female artists as role models and inspiration, something I wish I had more of when I was younger. It's also important to validate and celebrate the work of female artists and the contribution they make to the art world in the same way we always have done for men.
I am a mother of 2 and a painter. I paint the female nude in an abstract expressionist style through a female lens. I am also founder of @clovermill_artist_residency, a free collaboration residency and exhibition space with a focus on female artists. My website is www.jennifersmith.nl
Instagram @jennifer_smith_art"
18. Camilla d'Errico and Daria Aksenova
Gabriela Sepulveda @theivorybunny shares two of their favorite artists:
"My first one is Camilla d'Errico @camilladerrico
She strives to make her work inclusive and with all the negativity in the world, all she wants is her art to be a positive light in it. She is also one of the pioneers of Pop Surrealism.
My second is Daria Aksenova @dariaaksenovaart. She makes beautiful, time consuming shadowboxes that can only be made with magic."
Gabriela adds: "For me it’s important to see women artists because men have held the space for too long. I want to feel represented and that it’s possible for me too. We find more naked women on the walls of museums than we do women artists and im tired of people pushing the same male counterparts instead giving the space to women. We have something to say, and i want to hear it."🙌
19. Louise Bourgeois
When more than one person have a favorite artist in common!
"A historic artist who inspires me is Louise Bourgeois. She was a French-American sculptor, painter and printmaker who only became well known at the age of 70, after a lifetime of making art. She worked untill she died at the age of 99.
Seeing women artists in museums and galleries boosts my own work. For me this work is easier to relate to and connect with, since women usually also struggle with the combination of different roles.
My own work is expressive and abstract and has a feminine touch, follow me @annemare.artist"
And from Emanuela Camacci:
"Louise Bourgeois, an artist I have always loved for her curious, humble and personality, for having always fought stereotypes and conventions, for having been courageous in life and in her activity as an artist.
The reason it's important to see women in museums and galleries is because women represent half of humanity and their contribution and point of view is substantial for the development of culture and the understanding of society.
Taking ispiration from nature and dreams. Leave the stress behind and let yourself seduced by my world made of geometries and natural structures. @manucamacci
www.emanuelacamacci.it"
20. Sarah Twiggy Boyer
Juliana wanted to highlight Sarah's @sarahtwiggyboyerart work:
"Twiggy’s work brings so much joy to the world! Her collages show us the importance of love and affection in our lives and are so dreamy! She inspires me for her commitment to motherhood & her artistic practice and also for creating opportunities for artists with @phototrouveemagazine"
On why it's important to see equal representation in museums and galleries:
"Seeing women artists in museums and galleries means show us that we can make it as creatives too! When we see other women doing what we’ve always dream to do, we acknowledge that it is also possible for us! It also means having different perspectives on shows and art making!"
About herself: "I make amends with the past & spread messages of hope through embroidered photos. You can find me at @naufss or http://naufss.com"
21. Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle
Kathleen Elliot @kathleenelliot shares the artist that inspires her the most: Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle @kachstudio
Kenyatta is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and performer, as well as an educator and mother. In her work Kenyatta examines what she calls “’Historical Present’, the residue of history and how it affects our contemporary world perspective”. Although this sounds as if it could be academic, intellectual and dry, Kenyatta brings a fierce and glorious passion to her work, transcending any potential emotional detachment. She folds time, bringing history into today’s events and experiences. I have never met another artist who so thoroughly lives and breathes her artistic expression in all aspects of her life.
Women are half the human population. If museums and galleries are not equally representing women, they are out of touch with human expression.
I work in several series honoring and empowering women, questioning what is called “food” today, and expressing my love of nature.
22. Maryam Gohar
Beppi Isbert shares her favorite artist @maryam.gohar00- Her work is really beautiful & compelling. I think the fact that she is from Iran & making this kind of work is so incredibly brave.
Unfortunately, the art world is still very much a boy’s club. Seeing women artists in galleries & museums not because of their gender but because their work is valid, this is extremely important.
@beppiisbert -My work is very old school in technique- needlepoint, printmaking, painting, but it marries pop culture, literature, humour, & whatever madness my brain conjures up. Being female, I often make women the protagonists, but not always.
23. Anezka Kasparkova
Silvia sharing about the magnificent art by Anezka Kasparkova, who was an artist from Czech Republic.
Her canvas were the white houses of a small village, her hometown Louka. She painted majestic flower designs, mostly in vibrant ultramarine blue, inspired by traditional Moravian art.
She was a former agricultural worker who embraced her passion after retirement, painting for 30 years.
She is an inspiration, living a vast legacy, and showing us that age is not a limit to start doing what we really love. Even though her work is not in museums and art galleries, is not less important, it is a wonderful beauty visible to all.
I am Silvia Felizia, an abstract artist from Argentina, currently based in Texas. My paintings are the reflection of my memories, experiences, feelings, and beliefs, always looking for equilibrium between my Latinx origins and the pull I feel towards the places I lived in The Americas, Asia and Europe.
Website: silviafelizia.com
IG: @silviafelizia
