Woman at an easel: 20 world-renowned artists of the 16th - 19th centuries

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Since ancient times, painting, like other forms of art, has been the prerogative of men. Everyone knows the names of great artists from the Renaissance to the famous modernists and abstractionists of the 20th century, who inscribed their names in the history of world art in capital letters. What can not be said about no less talented women artists … Not many people know about them. It so happened historically that talented women for centuries had to win a place in the sun from men.

For the first time, canvases signed with female names began to appear only in the Renaissance. But it took another five hundred years to achieve complete equality and recognition in the visual arts. Only by the beginning of the 19th century, women at the easel took their worthy page in the history of world art.

Stunning portraits of Rosalba Carrera, exquisite paintings by Marie Vigee-Lebrun, and poetic images of Angelica Kaufmann brought the artists worldwide fame and respect. Berthe Morisot and Suzanne Valadon proved with their masterful canvases that they were not only the models that inspired the great impressionists Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, but also the most talented artists themselves.

The history of art to this day is not particularly supportive of women artists. However, there are not so few worthy female names equivalent to male famous names in the field of painting, as it seems at first glance.

Katharina van Hemessen (1528 -1587)

Caterina van Hemessen is the daughter and student of the Dutch artist Jan van Hemessen. She was a court painter of Queen Mary of Austria.

Sofonisba Angissola (1532-1625)

Sofonisba Anguissola is a Spanish painter who was the court painter of the King of Spain. Her brush belongs to many portraits of members of the royal family and aristocrats. Her two sisters were also artists.

Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614)

Lavinia Fontana is an Italian artist of the Bologna school.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)

The name Artemisia Gentileschi is a symbol of a woman's struggle for the right to be an artist in Italy. In the 17th century, she managed to become the first woman to be admitted to Europe's oldest Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

The artist's daughter, Orazio Gentileschi, was a follower of Caravaggio in theme and stylization. Her painting became a reflection of personal drama, as she had to endure an infamous trial of sexual abuse. Therefore, the main theme of her work was the female ability to defend her own dignity.

Maria van Osterwijk (1630-1693)

Maria van Oosterwijk is a Dutch Baroque artist, master of still life.

Anna Vaser (1678-1714)

Anna Waser is a Swiss painter and printmaker.

Rosalba Carrera (1675-1757)

Rosalba Carriera is an Italian painter and miniaturist of the Venice School, one of the main representatives of the Rococo style in the art of Italy and France.

Angelica Kaufman (1741-1807)

The German artist, daughter of the painter Angelica Katharina Kauffmann, became one of the founders of the British Royal Academy of Arts and over the next century and a half, she and Mary Moser, an artist from Switzerland, were the only women to receive a membership.

Angelika Kaufman managed to achieve mastery in one of the most traditionally "male" art genres - historical painting - and become a recognized master of classicism.

Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842)

Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun is a French artist, master of portraiture, a representative of the sentimental trend in classicism.

The most talented French portraitist Marie Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun was very popular among notable clients. She was so in demand that from the age of 15 she could provide for herself with the money she earned and support her widowed mother and younger brother.

The sentimental genre allowed the artist to portray those portrayed in very advantageous poses and elegant clothes, so Louise Vigee-Lebrun was loved among the French aristocracy and members of royal families.

She painted one of the first portraits of the young Marie-Antoinette, and later becoming her court painter, she will create about 30 more portraits of her. During the years of the French Revolution, Louise Vigee-Lebrun had to leave France and travel around the world. She lived in Russia for six years. She was familiar with Empress Catherine II, with whom she decided to paint a portrait. However, she did not have time - the empress died before she started posing.

Marguerite Gerard (1761 -1837)

Marguerite Gerard - French artist, student of Fragonard.

Maria Bashkirtseva (1858-1884)

Bashkirtseva Maria Konstantinovna - a native of the village of Gavrontsy, Poltava province, most of whom lived in France, considered herself a Russian writer and artist. She died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis.

Marie Victoria Lemon (1754-1820)

Marie Victoria Lemon is a French artist who has taken part in art salons.

Marie Gabriel Capet (1761-1818)

Marie-Gabrielle Capet graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in Paris at a time when only four women were allowed to study at the school at a time. She was a talented portraitist, skillfully painted in watercolors, oils and pastels. She took part in art exhibitions and salons.

Adelaide Labille-Giar (Vincent) (1749-1803)

Adelaide Labille-Guiard is a French portrait painter, founder of the first Parisian school of painting for women.

Anna Vallaye-Coster (1744-1818)

Anne Vallayer-Coster is a French artist, daughter of a royal jeweler, and a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette.

Marie-Elisabeth Kavet (1809-1882)

Also known as Eliza Blavot, she is a French artist, writer and art teacher.

Eliza Kunis (1812-1847)

Elisa Counis is an Italian artist.

Caroline von der Emdbe (1812-1904)

Caroline von der Embde is a German artist.

Rose Bonneur (1822-1899)

Rosa Bonheur is a French animal painter.

Sofia Vasilievna Sukhovo-Kobylina (1825-1867)

Sofya Vasilievna Sukhovo-Kobylina is a Russian artist who became the first woman to graduate from the Academy of Arts with a gold medal.

This list can be continued and further enumerate the names and achievements of world-famous artists who lived and worked in the 20th century. This is Tamara de Lempicki with her spectacular works, Frida Kahlo with piercing paintings. And also to be inspired, having experienced real delight, at the sight of the works of Russian artists Zinaida Serebryakova and Alexandra Exter.

However, male artists still strive to belittle the role of women in art history and support the myth that they are bad artists: said Georg Baselitz, a famous German artist.

Talented enlightened women at all times had a hard time. Many had to give up family ties for the sake of their creativity, while remaining old maidens.