Female Artists: Anguissola to Frankenthaler
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
With female artists becoming more mainstream in the last sixty years, it's easy to overlook the wildly improbable odds that confronted female painters during earlier periods in art history. Historically, female 
artists were prohibited, for instance, from seeing a nude male model (the venerable Thomas Eakins was fired from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts after hiring a male
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Monkey. Oil on canvas, 1938. 16" by 12". Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.
model for his female students). With no access to studying the male body, female painters specialized by default in portraiture or still life paintings, genres which paid comparatively less.
These female painters are some who nonetheless left enduring legacies in art history (click on the links for more of their fascinating stories!):
Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625). Imagine the rarity of this 16th century girl who received the same education as her male counterparts. Well-established as a portraitist at age 15, Anguissola became one of the leading Renaissance painters. Discover why it has been so difficult to identify Anguissola paintings.
Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614). After her Renaissance paintings were in greater demand than her husband's, he became the primary caregiver of their eleven children. Portraitist to Pope Paul V, Fontana worked for 40 continuous years and created 135 paintings.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652). The first female painter in the Academy of Design, Artemisa Gentileschi shunned the prescribed Renaissance norms for female artists, portraits and still life paintings. She opted instead to paint the same subjects on the same scale as male Renaissance painters. Explore Judith Beheading Holofernes and the later life of Artemisia Gentileschi.
Judith Leyster (1609-1660). Believed to have been a student of Frans Hal, Judith Leyster was a genre and a portrait painter. And the first female painter to be inducted into the Guild of St. Luke, Haarlem's painting guild.
Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899). To sketch horses in preparation for her masterpiece, The Horse Fair, she
Marie-Rosalie (Rosa) Bonheur, The Horse Fair. Oil on canvas, 1853-1855. 8' 1/4" by 16' 7 1/2". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
disguised herself as a man to sneak into the Paris horse markets. With this kind of tenacity, no wonder she was made an officer of the French Legion of Honor, the country's highest award, and became the first woman to be awarded its Grand Cross.
Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907). Influenced by Matisse, Cezanne and Gauguin, Modersohn-Becker forged her own style and laid the groundwork for German Expressionism before dying at age 31.
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). The first female painter to exhibit with the French Impressionists, Berthe Morisot was snared in a scandal when she modeled for the Manet painting, The Balcony. Undazed, Berthe Morisot continued to work with and exhibit alongside Impressionist painters. Explore one of her most famous paintings, The Cradle.
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986). One of the most famous female artists in art history (and certainly one of its most popular), Georgia O'Keeffe paintings are readily recognizable. Explore some of her most famous paintings, the Jack in the Pulpit series.
Georgia O'Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit IV. Oil on canvas, 1930. 40" x 30". National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). After suffering polio at age 6, Frida Kahlo was in a tram accident that subsequently required 32 operations. During one recuperation, she taught herself to paint. Now, Frida Kahlo paintings are among the most beloved in Mexican art.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928 - 2012). After creating Mountains and Sea at the age of 23, Helen Frankenthaler went on to define color-field painting and influence Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland.
What a string of "firsts" accomplished by these female artists! Please let me know if I've overlooked any female artists you admire.
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