In the beginning it was Artemisia Gentileschi, an Italian painter of the Caravaggesque school who lived during the first half of the seventeenth century, who paved the way for the new ideology that not only men could fill the role of artists. Evolving over time, the role of women in art has become more and more prominent, but above all it is Art itself and has changed in recent years. The current artistic scene is very rich in proposals and examples that arise from her interpreters, but let’s see in detail which are the most famous and well-known historical and contemporary painters, photographers and performers. The protagonists of the story
Among the first references of women in art, Pliny the Elder gives us some names of Greek painters: Timarete, Kalypso, Aristarete, Iaia and Olympas. Probably the female component in the art world has always been present; perhaps they have always existed since art existed, but up to the sixteenth century their contribution, their actual documented presence in history remains hardly visible, perhaps almost nothing.
It should be noted that in the Middle Ages, artists, both men and women, were rarely mentioned personally. They were considered “artisans” and rarely signed their works. In other sectors, however, women were nominated: as members of miniaturist guilds, book illustrators or embroiderers. Most of them, however, were normally nuns or aristocrats.
But from the Renaissance to Impressionism things really begin to change: really great women artists, in short, those who can be considered true professionals of art in all respects, escape invisibility: Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Elisabetta Sirani, the nice Dutch Judith Leyster, Rosalba Carriera, Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun, Angelika Kauffmann, Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. Below we propose the 20 most famous artists, from modernity to today. Artemisia Gentileschi
Daughter of art, her father was the well-known painter Horace, Artemisia and undoubtedly the most loved and known. Born July 8, 1593, her style is to be inserted in the Caravaggesque school. Lived during the first half of the seventeenth century, she took from her father Orazio the limpid drawing rigor of her, inserting a strong dramatic accentuation taken from the works of Caravaggio, loaded with theatrical effects; she styled that she contributed to the spread of Caravaggism in Naples, the city where she had moved from 1630.
In the seventies of the last century Artemisia, starting from the notoriety assumed by the rape trial she initiated, became a symbol of international feminism, with numerous associations and clubs named after her. The figure of a woman committed to pursuing her independence and her artistic affirmation against the many difficulties and prejudices she encountered in her troubled life contributed to the affirmation of this image of her. Artemisia Gentileschi and the redemption of women in art
Let’s discover the story of Artemisia Gentileschi, an artist who has become a symbol of international feminism for her life choices and for her battles By her Sofonisba Anguissola
Among women in art, the Cremonese Sofonisba, born of the noble Anguissola family from Piacenza, was one of the first female exponents of European painting. Even if her fame was not equal to that of other painters who rose as a result of the limelight of art such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosalba Carriera or Angelika Kauffman, Sofonisba represents the female Renaissance Italian painting. Rosalba Carriera
Among women in art, the Venetian Rosalba was a painter and portraitist, one of the best known of the eighteenth century. She began her artistic career by painting the snuffboxes with those figures of graceful ladies who later became her fortune transposed into miniatures on ivory. She was the first of her that she used ivory in her miniatures giving it that sheen characteristic of her works of hers. She was also the first to not follow the academic rules that wanted the miniature to be made with short and well-blended strokes and points: instead, she brought you the quick trait characteristic of Venetian painting. Angelika Kauffman
Maria Anna Catharina Angelika Kauffmann, born in Chur on October 30, 1741, was a Swiss painter, specialized in portraiture and historical subjects. She also had a passion for other arts such as music and singing. Her father, painter of her, initiated her to the fine arts of her, also accompanying her, for the purpose of a more complete education, during trips to Italy, where her talent was shown. Later she also went to London; she was the only female founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts . Berthe Morisot
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot, born Bourges in January 1841, was a French impressionist painter. In her life, Berthe Morisot, like the other artists of the period, had to fight against those who found the profession of painter unbecoming for a woman. The prejudices of her time, in addition to making it difficult for her to paint outdoors or in public places, made her indifferent and extraneous to the social issues that troubled Parisian life in those decades.
Berthe was then led to paint interiors and domestic scenes, with elegant women of the middle and upper class portrayed at home or in the garden, at various times of the day. However, she was never a superficial artist: a constant fact of her art and in fact the inner analysis of her characters, probably influenced in this by her friendship with many writers, in particular Stephane Mallarme. Women’s Day, phrases and aphorisms about Women to dedicate
If you are looking for an impressive phrase to write on the card that will accompany the inevitable mimosa, here is a series of author quotes Tamara de Lempicka
The self-portrait in the Bugatti Verde ”of 1929 perfectly exemplifies the art and personality of the painter. It is perhaps Lempicka’s most famous work, which later became a symbolic image of an era, an emblem of the independent woman who asserted herself. The painter, born in Warsaw in 1898, portrays herself wearing a helmet and deerskin gloves at the wheel of a sports car. Frida Kahlo
Probably Frida, born in Mexico in 1907, is one of the most loved and well-known artists in the world, a great example of strength and creativity. Her obsessive relationship with her tortured body, due to a terrible accident in 1925, characterizes one of the fundamental aspects of her art: she creates visions of the female body no longer distorted by a male gaze. At the same time she takes the opportunity to defend her people through her art by bringing Mexican folklore into it. Frida Kahlo, symbol of female freedom and independence
For Women’s Day, we tell you the story of Frida Kahlo, symbol of contemporary feminism, who embraced freedom as her only creed .
Born in 1939, Gina Pane was a French artist, born in France and lived in Italy. From the academic training of Gina Pane comes the interest in the body and its physicality, up to the limit of suffering imposed on the body itself. A leading figure in the body art of the seventies, she creates a series of performances, meticulously prepared and documented, in which every gesture, often linked to the painful dimension of the body, is performed with a ritual appearance. This is how the artist described her work: “Living your body means discovering both your own weakness and the tragic and merciless slavery of your shortcomings, your wear and tear and your precariousness. Furthermore,Rebecca Horn
Born in 1944, she is a German sculptor and director, most famous for her body extensions, works that consist of extensions of parts of the body. Among the greatest exponents of women in art, her most famous work is believed to be Einhorn (Unicorn), a dress with a long horn that projects upwards from the head, and Pencil Mask, a mask with several pencils sticking out of it. Women’s Day, the 10 most famous poems dedicated to the female universe
Many have written about women, in different eras and with different connotations. There are numerous poems that have the Barbara Kruger woman as their central theme
Born in 1945, and an American photographer. Kruger’s works are direct and evoke an immediate response. She often makes use of images of women recovered from advertisements in magazines or newspapers, to which she adds short texts that subvert their meaning. The use of black and white images, the font and the choice of colors have created an original and easily recognizable style. The purpose of Barbara Kruger’s messages is to make us reflect on political and social issues and on the clichés of modern society. Marina Abramovic
Considered among the greatest exponents of women in contemporary art, Marina was born in Belgrade in 1946. In 1976 they began the relationship and collaboration with another artist, Ulay, who was also born on the same day. After twelve years of relationship, they decided to end their relationship with a walk along the Great Wall of China. A pioneer in performance and body art since the early 70s, Marina Abramovic has marked the art of the last thirty years in a profound and innovative way. Her thematic choices range from the representation of sexuality and femininity, from the intimate and everyday dimension, to the ethical and social interpretation of contemporary reality. From the very beginning she has chosen her own body as the object of her art, investigating the extreme limits of physical and psychological resistance.Jenny Holzer
Born in 1950, she is an American artist. Her field of intervention consists of the positioning of short texts in the urban space through the use of various media (paper, luminous LEDs, engraved stones, videos). Overall, this is an operation of defamiliarization of the more usual media landscape that mimics and overturns advertising devices. The texts, typographically devoid of any calligraphic accent, are mainly made up of short sentences relating to everyday life, power, justice, human relations and, with greater insistence in more recent years, death and war. The point of view, especially in the early works, is often contradictory or ambiguous, while in the latest research there is often a greater dramatic component. Sophie Calle
Born in Paris in 1953, Sophie is one of the most popular artists of the 20th century. After an adolescence engaged in politics, in 1973 she decides to leave and travel the world. In 1978 she returns to her city, where she will devote herself to photography, her passion born during her long journey. On her return, however, her life has changed, she herself tells how she finds herself without friends, work and nothing to do. It was perhaps this emotional and social condition of her that led her to observe the people around her, with a morbid curiosity that became almost obsession. At the end of the 1970s, you began to write your first Journaux Intimes, whose pages are followed by reflections accompanied by images. Among these, she records her first ‘filatures parisiennes’ in which she follows strangers on the street until they lose sight of them,Here Goldin
Born in 1953, and a contemporary American photographer. Nan Goldin observes the transgressive and hidden part of city life with an intimate and personal approach. Private memories become works of art only after the decision to exhibit them. She portrays friends and acquaintances, but also herself. Her style becomes an icon of her generation. Cindy Sherman
Born in 1954, she is an American artist, photographer and director and is known for her conceptual self-portraits. Sherman produces series of works, photographing herself in a variety of costumes. In recent series, dated 2003, she introduces herself as a clown. Although Sherman does not consider her work feminist, many of her series of photographs, such as ‘Centerfolds,’ (1981), call attention to the stereotype of the woman as – Another very important artist, although she had a very short production, was Francesca Woodman, American photographer, born in 1958 and escaping into cinema, television and newspapers. Francesca Woodman
Another very important artist, albeit she had a very short production, was Francesca Woodman, American photographer, born in 1958 and who died prematurely in 1981. I focus her attention on her body and on its surroundings, to the point of almost obtaining an abstraction , as in the work in which he “camouflages himself” by raising his arms, with the forest behind him. To make her photographs of her, she generally used very long exposure times, which allowed her to actively participate in the creation of the photo shoot. Vanessa Beecroft
Born in 1969, she is an Italian artist. She is considered one of the most innovative and accredited women in art on the international contemporary scene. The expressive choice of the mature Beecroft from a very young age was to think and create performances, using the body of young women more or an invisible chessboard, with appropriate musical comments or with the studied varying of the lights. Sam Taylor Wood
British artist and director, one of the most respected women in art, was born in 1967. A well-known conceptual artist working in the field of photography and film, identifying himself as a member of the Young British Artists movement. Elisabetta Alberti
An artist from Trentino who has staged a large series of unusual images over the last decade, realizing them all through photographic prints (in black and white and large format) on canvas, later enriched with some dosed chromatic backgrounds in acrylic and above all with the addition of discrete (but unsettling) embroidered ‘decorative’ interventions. Ketty La Rocca
Born in La Spezia in 1938, she was one of the most important Italian artists to compete with Body art. Among the best known women in art, her research is nourished by a profound reflection on the universe of communication. Her first works can be traced back to the poetics of visual poetry carried out in the 60s by Gruppo 70 in Florence. Subsequently, the artist pioneered confrontation with the most advanced expressive techniques of her time, such as videotape, installation and performance. Finally, she focuses on her body language and gesture, making use of x-rays of her skull and her own handwriting. Her latest research, close to conceptual art, leads to the Reductions in which images are brought back, by gradual transfiguration, to abstract signs.
