Art history is littered with the names of famous male artists like Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci. But what about the women who have helped shape the history of art?
As with other fields like science and literature, women have historically been discouraged from pursuing careers in the arts; with various barriers in place to prevent them from doing so. And yet, there are a number of women who defied the odds – producing groundbreaking artwork that still inspires the world today.
So who are these women? Below, we’ll delve into the lives and work of nine inspiring women in art history.
As Jennifer Higgie – artist, art critic, and author of The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution, and Resilience: 500 Years of Women’s Self Portraits – said, “Most people struggle to name even one female artist before the twentieth century. Yet women have always made art.”
1. Catharina van Hemessen (1528-1588)
Catharina van Hemessen is the first known female painter from the South Netherlands whose work is dated and signed.
She was born in Antwerp in 1528 at a time when the art trade was flourishing and hundreds of artists were managing to find work in the city. However, while men sought new opportunities, women faced significant, multi-layered barriers to becoming professional artists.
Like many other successful female artists, Catharina was likely taught to paint by her father – the famous artist Jan Sanders van Hemessen – who would’ve been able to introduce her to key artistic figures of the time.
Self-portraits were fairly rare in the 16th century – not least self-portraits by female artists. However, in 1548, aged just 20, Catharina defiantly inscribed on her work, “I Caterina van Hemessen have painted myself.” One of her most famous pieces shows her working at an artist’s easel, which now hangs in Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland.
While Catharina’s name isn’t recognised by many today, she was once internationally known in the highest social circles. In 1556, Mary of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands, who was a great lover of art, invited Catherina and her husband to work at the Habsburg court in Spain.
2. Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842)
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun was a French artist best remembered for her rapid rise to fame.
Born and brought up in Paris, Elisabeth received artistic guidance from her father before he died when she was just 12. Despite being unable to access formal training, Elisabeth continued to pursue art. By the age of just 15, she’d already established a small clientele for her works and was earning enough from her portrait paintings to support herself, her widowed mother, and her younger brother.
Elisabeth’s talent soon caught the attention of the French queen, Marie Antoinette, who, in 1783, appointed her a member of Paris’ esteemed Royal Academy. She became one of only four female academicians and gained a high artistic, social, and political profile – so much so that she was forced to flee the country during the French Revolution.
Over the following years, Elisabeth was commissioned to create portraits of some of the most celebrated figures of Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Scholars estimate that she produced around 600 portraits and 200 landscape paintings throughout her career.
The relaxed, natural manner of Elisabeth’s work was considered revolutionary at a time when portraits mainly showed formal depictions of the upper classes.
3. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is one of the best-known female artists in history and her iconic image is as recognisable as her artwork.
Frida’s artistic career began in 1925 when she was recovering from a near-fatal bus accident. As a result of her life-changing injuries, Frida had undergone 32 surgeries and worn 28 corsets by the time she died.
Frida used art as an escape from her injuries, and so her work is inseparable from her life. Therefore, her paintings often portrayed her ongoing struggle with physical pain, as well as her turbulent relationship with painter Diego Rivera.
Among her most famous works, The Broken Column (1944) shows her bruised body, following a series of surgical operations; and Henry Ford Hospital (1932) explores the miscarriages she went through with her partner. Much of Frida’s work is also a celebration of her heritage – and in many portraits, she’s seen wearing traditional Mexican dress.
Frida gained national recognition both during her lifetime – while teaching painting classes at the School of Fine Arts in 1943 – and following her death, when her portrait was used to decorate the side of a new 500 peso banknote in 2010.
Frida Kahlo is often labelled a surrealist (an artistic cultural movement designed to release the mind’s imagination and unconscious thoughts), but this was a title she consistently denied. In her own words, she said, “They thought I was a surrealist but I wasn’t. I never painted my dreams. I painted my own reality.”
4. Yayoi Kusama (1929-present)
Contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto, Japan, in 1929. Her wide-ranging work – which encompasses everything from painting and sculpture, to fashion design, writing, and installation – first came to fruition in 1960s New York.
Yayoi is undoubtedly best known for her Infinity Mirror Rooms – a series of immersive installations and kaleidoscopic environments housed at London’s Tate Modern. One of Yayoi’s largest installations to date is Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life, which is displayed alongside the Chandelier of Grief – a room which creates the illusion of an endless universe of crystal chandeliers.
Much of Yayoi’s work is inspired by her experiences as a young girl – specifically by a hallucination where she found herself in a field of flowers. The flowers, she explains, appeared like polka dots that went on as far as she could see and made her feel as though she might disappear or ‘self-obliterate’. It was the influence of this experience on her work that has earned her the nickname ‘Princess of Polka Dots’.
Yayoi Kusama says, “Our Earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots, we become part of the unity of our environment.”
5. Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807)
Angelica Kauffman was born in Graubunden, Switzerland. Like many other women on this list, Angelica was tutored in art by her father, the Austrian painter Joseph Johann Kauffman, from an early age.
During the early 1760s, she travelled through Austria, Italy, and Switzerland as her father’s assistant – an experience that allowed for unrivalled artistic training and experiences. While, as a woman, she wasn’t allowed to officially enrol at an art academy, Angelica still took it upon herself to study Renaissance masterpieces and engage with leaders of the new and popular Neoclassicism movement.
Angelica solidified her reputation as a portraitist in 1765 during a three-year stay in Italy when she was elected to Rome’s Accademia di San Luca (Italian Academy of Artists in Rome). The following year, she moved to London and became one of only two female founding members of the city’s Royal Academy.
Staying in London for 15 years, Angelica was employed by various aristocrats and royal patrons. She’s best remembered for rewriting the genre of historic art by focusing mainly on female protagonists from mythology and classical history, such as Circe and Cleopatra. Her contemporaries described her as “the most cultivated woman in Europe.”
6. Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)
Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the 20th century’s most notable artists and is celebrated for her contributions to modern art.
Raised in Wisconsin, Georgia came to be recognised as one of America’s most successful artists during the 1920s – particularly for her paintings of New York skyscrapers, which depicted American modernity.
Later on, Georgia’s international travels and time spent living in Mexico inspired many of her pieces – including a dramatic painting of Japan’s Mount Fuji and Peru’s rolling mountains. Later, she ambitiously painted aerial views of the clouds and sky.
At the age of 73, suffering from macular degeneration, Georgia’s vision began to fail and she completed her final unassisted oil painting in 1972. However, while her eyesight began to diminish, her passion for art didn’t. In 1977, aged 90, she said, “I can see what I want to paint. The thing that makes you want to create is still there.”
7. Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)
French Realist painter Rosa Bonheur is considered one of the 19th century’s most famous female artists. She’s particularly known for her large-scale paintings featuring animals, which she had a remarkable talent for bringing to life on canvas.
Her work was regularly exhibited at the acclaimed Paris salon and she found success in both Britain and America.
Rosa’s work also portrayed personal experiences – and she became renowned for fearlessly challenging gender stereotypes. From the mid-1850s onwards, Rosa wore men’s clothing, and was even granted permission to do so.
She was also openly gay during a time when lesbianism was frowned upon by the government – being unapologetically herself both in her career and personal life.
8. Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625)
Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter whose impressive artwork caught the attention of the King of Spain and Michelangelo himself. Sofonisba had an eye for creating sophisticated portraits and is frequently touted as the first female artist to achieve international recognition.
Born in Cremona, northern Italy, Sofonisba studied through her late teens under the guidance of painter Bernardino Campi, and later Bernadino Gatti. She met Michelangelo Buonarroti aged 22, who, impressed by her work, offered to tutor her.
In 1559, Sofonisba travelled to Madrid where she served as the royal family’s portrait painter and became one of Europe’s most talented court painters.
Sofonisba Anguissola lived to the age of 93 and the following words were engraved on her tombstone: “To Sofonisba, one the illustrious women of the world for her beauty and for her extraordinary natural abilities, so distinguished in portrayed the human image that no-one of her time could equal her”.
9. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Berthe Morisot is considered one of the great female Impressionists. Born into an aristocratic French family, she was the great-niece of renowned Rococo painter, Jean-Honore Fragonard.
Berthe’s career started at the well-respected Paris Salon, where she showcased some of her work before joining the first Impressionist exhibit, along with Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Cezanne. Berthe also had a close relationship with Edouard Manet, who painted several portraits of her.
Much of Berthe’s work – created with pastels, charcoal, and watercolours – centered on domestic scenes and it was often criticised for being ‘too feminine’.
Documenting her struggles with being taken seriously as a female artist, Berthe wrote in her journal, “I don’t think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal and that’s all I would have asked for, for I know I’m worth as much as they.”
Final thoughts…
From the fierce resilience and bravery of Frida Kahlo to the modern installations of Yayoi Kusama, art history is full of inspiring women.
For further reading, head over to the art and culture section of our website. Here, you’ll find everything from inspiring women in history to historic sites to visit in the UK and abroad.
Which of these women do you find most inspiring? What other history topics would you like to see us write about? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.