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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Lady Sak K'uk'

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

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
Discover more about the Ancient World

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.
A relief sculpture shows a woman holding a bowl with a serpent rising behind her
A green mask of a woman covers her face
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.
Ancient stone carvings depicting a dragon-like creature, humans, and other symbolic figures with elaborate details and patterns.
Discover more about the ancient Maya world
an oval relief sculpture shows a woman handing a feathered crown to a man on a throne

Lady Sak K’uk’ of Palenque, queen and Pakal’s mother

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

Baroque painting depicting two women, one holding a sword and another wearing a headscarf, near a lit candle on a table.
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.
Still life painting of assorted fruits including apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and melons arranged on a table in front of a dark background.
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.
Painting of a woman with a lace collar, holding a painter's brush, with another painter in the background.
portrait of eleanora di toledo with her young son
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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

a woman looks at us wearing a floral crown and veil
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COMING SOON: Portrait of Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez y Cervantes, by Miguel Cabrera

The Modern Era

c. 1800–present

The Americas

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

COMING SOON: Elizabeth Catlett, Sharecropper

COMING SOON: Beth van Hoesen, Bugs

Europe

COMING SOON: Anna Atkins, cyanotype of algae

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
Discover more about the modern world

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