For centuries, the spotlight for artists was typically reserved for men. So unless you’re an art scholar, there are probably plenty of female artists you may not know.
We’re not referring to the better-known artists such as Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, or Mary Cassatt – who gained notoriety in the male-dominated industry.
Sometimes this was because of their connections with male artists, despite their immense talent that speaks for itself. Unfortunately, this is “just the way it was.” As such, many female artists remain in the shadows.
Four Female Artists You May Not Know
As an arts-integrated educational institute, we continually strive to ensure that, going forward, women artists get the recognition they deserve. Yet, we also know the importance of highlighting and studying the trailblazing women artists of the past.
We’ll take a look at just four of them here.
1. Hilma af Klint
Hilma af Klint was born in 1862 in Stockholm, Sweden, and attended the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She graduated at the age of 25 and went on to become known for her figurative work and served as secretary of the Association of Swedish Women Artists.
She continued with figurative work until she became increasingly influenced by spiritualism and Theosophy. At this point, she began to seek a way to reconcile religion with the scientific advancements of the time. Her first collection of 193 paintings titled The Paintings in the Temple reflected this. Created between 1906 and 1915, these nonfigurative and abstract compositions explored the dualistic views of evolution, creation, and the universe. Interestingly, the earliest pieces predated the work of Mondrian, Kandinsky, and Malevich.
af Klint insisted, however, that the works not be shown until 20 years after her death. Though she died in 1944, it wasn’t until the Guggenheim hosted her work in 2018-19 that she was finally recognized as a pioneer of abstract art.
2. Augusta Savage
Born near Jacksonville, Florida, in 1892, Augusta Savage would become the definition of a trailblazing woman artist. Known now for her association with the Harlem Renaissance, Savage moved to New York City in 1921 to study art – beating out 142 men on the waiting list for her spot at Cooper Union College.
Demonstrating stellar skills as a sculptor, she applied for a summer art program two years later sponsored by the French government. She was rejected because she was Black. This incident didn’t stop her. Instead, it sparked her lifelong fight to equalize and democratize the arts.
One of her earliest commissions was from the Harlem Library for a bust of W.E.B. DuBois. It was well-received and she was offered more commissions to sculpt other African-American leaders. It was the sculpture of a child from Harlem that gained her deserved recognition and ultimately aided in her securing a scholarship to study at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris.
Savage returned to the U.S. in 1931 and launched the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts which would become the Harlem Community Art Center the following year. She also became the first African-American artist to be elected to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. In addition, she was one of only four women to receive a commission from the 1939 World’s Fair. She died in 1962 at the age of 70.
3. Leonora Carrington
One of the most dynamic relatively ‘unknown’ female artists of the 20th century was Leonora Carrington. Born in the U.K., she studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art before transferring to the Ozenfant Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 19. A surrealist herself, she was drawn to the work of German artist Max Ernst. She would meet him two years later at a party and move to Paris to live with him. Their romance was short-lived, however. When WWII broke out, Ernst (not Jewish but considered a degenerate artist by the Nazis) was arrested by French authorities and forced to flee persecution. Peggy Guggenheim helped him move to U.S., and he would later marry her.
Carrington suffered a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalized. Once she was released, she fled to Mexico. There she was inspired by the local folklore. Her paintings referenced metamorphosis, sorcery, the occult, and fantastical creatures that showed this influence. During the civil unrest of the 1970s, she joined the Women’s Liberation Movement and designed a poster for the cause in 1973. She remained committed to political work and in 1986, won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women’s Caucus for Art convention in New York.
4. Adrian Piper
Born in 1948 in New York City, Adrian Piper is a conceptual and performance artist whose work looks at how and why those involved in more than one discipline can experience professional ostracism, racism, and/or sexism. She does this through both traditional and non-traditional media to encourage self-analysis.
As a light-skinned Black artist, she’s been able to push the envelope on hot-button topics associated with race. One of her most well-known works was her Mythic Being series. In order to expose the absurdity of social stereotypes, she transformed herself into a lower-class Black male and walked the streets of Cambridge around Harvard.
Piper continues (as of the publication of this post) to present confrontational work that asks society to question the perception of identity and social hierarchy. In one of her more recent pieces, The Probable Trust Registry, she placed corporate-looking kiosks where visitors could sign contracts agreeing to live by a set of rules that encourage personal responsibility (imagine that!). Piper went on to win the Golden Lion Award for Best Artist at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 for her work.
Could Your Child Be the Next Trailblazing Artist?
If the four women above are among the female artists you may not know, you’re far from alone. And there’s no shame in that.
We’re tirelessly working on ensuring that every female, male, and binary non-gender artist gets the recognition they deserve.
So contact us today to schedule a tour of our arts-integrated middle/high school. And give your creative child the chance she/he/they deserve to shine.