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Maiestas Domini
Ende was a female Spanish artist in the tenth century. Her artwork, Maiestas Domini, depicts Christ with mundus in his right hand. The corners of the work represent the four evangelists looking towards Christ. The artwork is in the Mozarabic style of art. The art says much about women during this time. The artwork was religious, made as part of a religious manuscript. Women artists could only create art in select instances. Ende was allowed to create art only for spiritual purposes -
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Herrad von Landsberg
Herrad von Landsberg was a German nun and illustrator. She is best known for her work Hortus deliciarum, a “pictorial encyclopedia, a compendium in Latin of all the sciences studied at that time, including theology,” (Editorial Committee, 2016). The artwork is a self-portrait of Herrad von Landsberg in Hortus deliciarum. The artwork is in the Romanesque art style. -
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi was a painter during the seventeenth century. She was trained under her father, Orazio Gentileschi, who was a follower of Italian painter Caravaggio. Artemisia Gentileschi painted Judith and her Maidservant in 1615. Artemisia created this painting to depict women reclaiming power from men. This piece was made after her rapist was acquited. This most likely inspired her to create art where women took power back from men. -
Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani was a painter from Bologna. Sirani ran her father's workshop after he became incapacitated by gout. Sirani’s piece, Portia Wounding her Thigh, depicts the moment when Portia harmed herself to prove to her husband, Brutus, that she could be trusted. The painting can be seen as a self-portrait At a young age, Sirani had to care for her family and run her father's workshop independently. Sirani had to prove herself to men that she could be trusted with these responsibilities. -
Angelica Kauffman
Angelica Kauffman was a Swiss painter. Kauffman began learning from her father, but she was unable to receive a formal education due to her gender. Kauffman’s Design is part of a group of paintings that depict elements of the artistic process: Invention, Design, Composition, and Colouring. Design depicts a woman drawing the sculpture Belvedere Torso. By having Design depict a woman, Kauffman speaks on how women like herself could not receive formal art training. -
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was a French painter. Labille-Guiard’s Self-portrait with Two Pupils, Mlle. Marie Gabrielle Capet and Carreaux de Rosemond depict Labille-Guiard painting with two students watching her. The painting shows us how women during this time learned to create art. It also shows how women of means could learn how to create art while women like Kauffman could not receive an education. -
Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt was a painter in the nineteenth century. Cassatt's "In the Loge," shows a woman at the opera in a private box. Cassat’s use of contrast draws us to the women as her pale skin contrasts against her dark clothing. In the painting, a man can be seen looking toward the woman from across the room. Cassatt’s work differs from that of her male peers as she gave her subject in her painting, In the Loge, a role, while her male counterparts made them objects to be seen. -
Jenny Brownscombe
Jenny Brownscombe was an American painter in the nineteenth century. Brownscombe’s piece, Love's Young Dream, shows an idealized traditional rural life. The piece shows a young woman starting expectantly towards the road where a man on horseback can be seen. An elderly couple sits on the porch nearby. The painting could be seen as Brownscombe’s view of her rural life or as a life she wished. -
Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Goncharova was a Russian artist in the 19th century. The Forest was painted in Goncharova’s signature style, rayonism. In The Forest, a forest with a person standing in the back can be gleaned from the intersection of the rays of light. Rayonism, like all abstract art, rejects the norms of realist art and attempts to show what does not have physical form. -
Liubov Popova
Liubov Popova was a Russian abstract artist in the 19th century. According to Lacroze (2021), Popova studied art under Impressionist Stanislav Zhukovsky and became familiar with the art of people from all over Europe after traveling. Painterly Architectonic is an abstract piece featuring cubes that intersect one another in various colors. The use of color draws viewers to explore the painting. -
Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz was a German Artist in the 20th century. In Killed in Action, Kollwitz depicts a woman receiving news that someone close, like a husband or son, was killed in war. As the woman is overcome with grief, she is surrounded by children with different emotions. -
Suzanne Valadon
Suzanne Valadon was a French modern painter in the 20th century. Valadon was known for her paintings of female nudes, and according to Chadwick (2020), “Valadon's female nudes fuse observation with a knowledge of the female body based on her experience as a model.” Valadon’s The Blue Room subverts the typical depiction of women in art. Women were typically painted in the nude for a male gaze. The Blue Room has a woman lying in comfortable clothing in a bed. -
Georgia O'Keeffe
rgia O’Keeffe was a 20th-century American Modernist painter. O’Keeffe was famous for her paintings of large flowers, New York landscapes, and the American Southwest desert. O’Keeffe’s Radiator Building — Night, New York was painted during her time in New York. O’Keeffe was inspired by the photography work of her would-be husband, Stieglitz. -
Betye Saar
Betye Saar is an American modern artist. The Liberation of Aunt Jemima’s main subject is the Mammy, a racist depiction of black women. She stands in cotton with a portrait of the black power fist in front. According to Gotthardt (2017), “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima was born: an assemblage that repositions a derogatory figurine, a product of America’s deep-seated history of racism, as an armed warrior.” -
Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith
Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith was a Native American artist. According to Chadwick (2020), “Quick-to-See-Smith has linked the discourses of historical Indian art and the contemporary art world in her work.” In her work Untitled, from the portfolio Indian Self-Rule, Quick-to-See-Smith uses the traditional Native style in a contemporary form. -
Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British artist. According to Chadwick (2020), Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist who is dedicated to showing what it means “to be black and female in white, male dominated society.” Her work, Missionary Position II, depicts the effects of British colonialism on African culture.