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Forgotten Women Artists Shine Anew
18 Mar
Summary
- Exhibition highlights over 40 forgotten female artists from the Low Countries.
- Many admired in their lifetimes, their work was later misattributed or ignored.
- Rediscovery seeks to restore women to a key period of art history.
A new exhibition, "Unforgettable: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750," is spotlighting more than 40 female artists from the Low Countries during the baroque period. These artists, including Judith Leyster and Maria van Oosterwijck, were celebrated in their time but later overlooked, with their works attributed to men or dismissed.
The exhibition, which opened at the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts after a run in Washington D.C., seeks to reintegrate these women into art history, previously dominated by figures like Rembrandt and Vermeer. It highlights why their contributions were ignored, particularly as art history became a discipline in the 19th century.
Many of these women were financially successful, with Johanna Koerten earning significantly more than Rembrandt for her paper-cutting art. The exhibition also touches on unconventional life choices, such as Louise Hollandine's conversion to Catholicism to pursue her art.
This rediscovery is part of a broader movement to reclaim the legacies of women erased from art history. The exhibition underscores their significant economic and artistic impact during the period.
