Women in Art

and Women Artists

Sofonisba Anguissola

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Frida Kahlo

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Lady Dai

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Lady K'abal Xook

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Artemisia Gentileschi

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Queen Elizabeth I

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Eleanora di Toledo

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Sofonisba Anguissola • Frida Kahlo • Lady Dai • Lady K'abal Xook • Artemisia Gentileschi • Queen Elizabeth I • Eleanora di Toledo •

A painting depicting two women in dramatic lighting, one holding a sword. The woman in the foreground is gesturing with her hand, while the other looks up at her. There's a lit candle and a book on a table behind them. The painting has a gold ornate frame.

Highlighting the role of women in art and women artists from prehistory to the present moment

The Ancient World

c. 3000 BCE–500 CE

Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century BCE, silk, 205 x 92 x 47.7 cm, found in Tomb 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province. Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha.

Lady Dai's Funeral Banner and Tomb in Ancient China

Learn about Lady Dai
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The Medieval World

c. 500–1500 CE

Women in the Ancient Maya World

Ancient carved stone panel with intricate designs displayed in a museum exhibit.
Learn more about Ix Mutal Ahaw

A Maya Queen, Ix Mutal Ahaw

A relief sculpture shows a woman holding a bowl with a serpent rising behind her

Lady Ik' Skull / Lady Eveningstar of Yaxchilán

Learn about the Red Queen
A green mask of a woman covers her face

The Red Queen of Palenque / Lady Ix Tz'akbu Ajaw

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Ancient stone carving depicting two human figures, one taller with a headdress and holding a staff, the other shorter and kneeling, with detailed geometric patterns surrounding them.

Bloodletting and Lady K'abal Xook from Yaxchilán

Learn more about Lady K'abal Xook
Ancient stone carvings depicting a dragon-like creature, humans, and other symbolic figures with elaborate details and patterns.

More about Lady K'abal Xook (Xoc)

More about Lady K'abal Xook (Xoc)
Illustrated faces and objects with text "COMING SOON" on a blue and green background, and "ARTsQ" logo.

Lady Sak K'uk' of Palenque

Coming soon
Discover more about the ancient Maya world

The Early Modern Period

c. 1500–1800 CE

A classical painting depicting a woman in a Renaissance-style dress holding a small unicorn. The woman is sitting in front of an outdoor backdrop with pillars and a landscape view. The painting is framed in an ornate, gold-colored frame.

Europe

Rapahel's Lady with a Unicorn and female portraiture

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Baroque painting depicting two women, one holding a sword and another wearing a headscarf, near a lit candle on a table.
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Adding drama to painting: Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith

Francis Delaram, Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1618, engraving, published in Baziliwlogia: A Booke of Kings (London, 1618). Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth I, Queen of England, holding a scepter

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Still life painting of assorted fruits including apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and melons arranged on a table in front of a dark background.

Fede Galizia and Still-Life Painting

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A framed still life painting of a vibrant bouquet of various flowers in a dark vase, with a background featuring classical columns and architectural elements, mounted on a green wall.

Rachel Ruysch and Still-Life Painting

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Painting of a woman with a lace collar, holding a painter's brush, with another painter in the background.

Self-portraiture and Judith Leyster

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portrait of eleanora di toledo with her young son

Eleanora di Toledo, Duchess of Florence

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Discover more about early modern Europe
Miguel Cabrera, Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, c. 1750, oil on canvas. Museo Nacional de Historia, Castillo de Chapultepec, Mexico

North America

Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Nun, Author, Genius

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a woman looks at us wearing a floral crown and veil

Crowned nuns: Portrait of Mother Ana María of the Precious Blood of Christ

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Discover more about the Americas

The Modern Era

c. 1800–present

The Americas

La Casa Azul, Coyoacán, Mexico City. Now, the Museo Frida Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo's Blue House (La Casa Azul)
Leonora Carrington, Self-Portrait, c. 1937–38, oil on canvas, 25 9/16 × 32 in. (65 × 81.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Close looking at Leonora Carrington's Self-Portrait
An abstract painting in warm colors like yellow that is Olga Albizu's 900-50-80
Looking closely at Olga Albizu's 900-50-80

Asia

A smiling sun appears next to a blue mountain with running red lava, which is a print by Yayoi Kusama called Where the Universe and Human Life Are
Close looking at Yayoi Kusama, Where the Universe and Human Life Are
Discover more about the modern world

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