Think of some famous artists you know. What names come to mind? Da Vinci, Van Gogh and Andy Warhol? Chances are the majority of them are male, but also white males. This is not because there are no great female artists. Instead, it is due to how they have been highly underrepresented throughout history. One of the most famous museums in London, the National Gallery, has 2300 works on display. Of these, only a shocking twenty-one are painted by women.
Why is that?
For centuries, women have been excluded from art history. The canon for example, which collects the most important cultural works throughout history consists almost exclusively of male artists. This is causing the work of female artists to be lost as time goes on. Another reason is because it was truly challenging to be a professional artist as a woman. Art academies were exclusive to men, same as life drawing classes and not to mention the prejudices these women were confronted with. This article will therefore honour some female artists you might not know of, but definitely should.
Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
The French artist Le Brun was the most successful and expensive portrait painter of the 18th century, despite being a woman. She was even entirely self-taught. Le Brun painted many famous pictures of royals such as Marie Antoinette and self-portraits. However, she has been criticized for painting herself as a beauty and upon seeing her paintings, many have said they must’ve been painted by a man. In addition to that, she was despised by male portrait painters because she was making more money than them.
Yoko Ono
Another highly misjudged artist is Yoko Ono. Yoko Ono is primarily known for being John Lennon’s wife and not for being a great conceptual artist. She was even accused of being responsible for The Beatles’ Breakup. One of her most famous works is the performance Cut Piece in which Yoko Ono invited the audience to cut pieces from her dress and take it with them. The visitors snipped (and snipped) until Ono was left completely naked and exposed.
Marina Abramovic
Even though Abramovic is an extremely accomplished and renowned artist, she still doesn’t have the same reputation as her male counterparts. She is extremely brave and fearless and goes as far as almost dying for her art, for example during her performance piece The Artist is Present, she was almost shot during an exhibition (she was the one providing the pistol). Upon separating with her lifelong love, artist Ulay, they both walked the Wall of China from opposite ends, meeting for one last time in the middle. An incredibly powerful and touching piece which once more demonstrated her strength.
These artists are often not as well-known as many male artists. However, they are equally, if not even more, important. This article only highlights three but there are many forgotten and lost great female artists.