Introduction
For much of history, women were rarely accepted and praised for their creativity and artistic creations, despite making all types of artwork. Writers and researchers created books and biographical indices specific to women artists, to have women artists recognized in art history and archives, and to rectify historical sidelining.
The books below cover a wide range of history (from medieval art to contemporary art), as well as a variety of artistic mediums. We hope that this page will help researchers interested in women artists, who may be more difficult to find in historical canonical texts and scholarship of art history.
Theresa Federowna Ries (1874 - 1956) was a Russian born Austrian painter and sculptor. She primarily worked in stone, marble, plaster, and bronze. She is well known for the photograph on the left, of her sculpting a bust of American writer Mark Twain in 1897 during the time he resided in Vienna.
Books
Women, Art, and Society by
Art historian Whitney Chadwick's acclaimed bestselling study challenges the assumption that great women artists are exceptions to the rule who "transcended" their gender to produce major works of art. While introducing some of the many women since the Middle Ages whose contributions to visual culture have often been neglected, Chadwick's survey reexamines the works themselves and the ways in which they have been perceived as marginal, often in direct reference to gender. This revised edition features a completely redesigned interior and full-color illustrations.
Call Number: *R-ART N8354 .C48 2020ISBN: 9780500204566Publication Date: 2020-09-08
Great Women Artists by
Five centuries of fascinating female creativity presented in more than 400 compelling artworks and one comprehensive volume The most extensive fully illustrated book of women artists ever published,& reflects an era where art made by women is more prominent than ever. Featuring more than 400 artists from more than 50 countries and spanning 500 years of creativity, each artist is represented here by a key artwork and short text.
Call Number: *R-ART N8354 .G74 2019ISBN: 9780714878775Publication Date: 2019-09-05
Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550-1800 by
The struggles and achievements of forty-six notable women artists of the early modern period, as documented by their contemporaries, are uniquely brought together in this anthology. The life stories presented here are foundational texts for the history of art, but since most are found only in rare volumes and few have been translated into English, until now they have been generally inaccessible to many scholars. Originally published in biographical compendia such as Vasari's Lives of the Artists, the writings included here document not only the lives of relatively well known women artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Sofonisba Anguissola, but also those who have languished in obscurity, like Anna Waser and Li Yin. The volume includes an appended index to women artists' life stories in biographical compendia of the period
Call Number: *R-ART N8354 .D33 2009ISBN: 9780754654315Publication Date: 2009-11-28
Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art by
Individuals:Women Artists in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art represents the first effort by a major North American museum to examine its collection in light of feminist scholarship of the past three decades. Organized chronologically into three sections - Early Modernism, Mid-Century and Contemporary - the book comprises both long and short essays emphasizing new research on women artists within these historical time periods. Richly illustrated with objects from the collection, Individuals foregrounds a conversation between past considerations of MoMA's collection and current feminist narratives of art history, putting these varied modes of exploration in productive dialogue.
Call Number: *R-ART N8354 .M63 2010ISBN: 9780870707711Publication Date: 2010-06-30
Art Work by
Forced to become self-supporting by financial panics and civil war, thousands of young women moved to New York City between 1850 and 1880 to pursue careers as professional artists. Many of them trained with masters at the Cooper Union School of Design for Women, where they were imbued with the Unity of Art ideal, an aesthetic ideology that made no distinction between fine and applied arts or male and female abilities. These women became painters, designers, illustrators, engravers, colorists, and art teachers. Art Work: Women Artists and Democracy in Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York recaptures the unfamiliar cultural landscape in which spirited young women, daring social reformers, and radical artisans succeeded in reuniting art and industry.
Call Number: JQZ 12-1394ISBN: 9780812240719Publication Date: 2008-06-04
Women Artists of Color by
Critical essays on 20th-century female artists of color focus on how these distinguished artists achieved success, what makes their work important both to the art world and to their specific communities, and what influences their work is likely to have in the future. The artists are representative of four ethnic groups: African American, Asian Pacific American, Latin American, and Native American. The artistic mediums span the gamut from traditional painting and sculpture to newer forms such as video, conceptual, and performance art. Grouped by ethnicity, artists are presented in alphabetical order. Entries include biographical information and a listing of each artist's exhibitions. Numerous photographs enhance the text.
Call Number: MAN 99-8228ISBN: 0313303746Publication Date: 1999-05-30
Contemporary Women Artists by
This volume provides thorough biographical, bibliographical and critical information on 350 of the world's most prominent and influential 20th century women artists, including important new artists.
Call Number: JFF 00-3834ISBN: 1558623728Publication Date: 1999-04-01
Dictionary of Women Artists by
This dictionary is international in scope, contains over 21,000 women painters, sculptors, illustrators, and printmakers before 1900. The entries contain name, date of birth, biographical information, and a reference source. Bibliography is extensive, pulling from books, pamphlets, articles, periodicals, exhibition and auction catalogs, newspapers, and unpublished manuscripts.
Call Number: *R-ART Desk N43 .P47 1985ISBN: 0816184569Publication Date: 1985-03-01
Women Artists in America by
This book contains 4,000 short artist biographies of women artists of American descent, from 1790 onward. The dictionary includes painters, sculptors, printmakers, and ceramicists.
Call Number: MAO 74-1412ISBN: 9780938290001Publication Date: 1981-02-01
Women in the Fine Arts by
This book contains 1,000+ biographies of women artists. The entries are essay-like, with written descriptions of famous pieces and contextual information. There is also a detailed introductory essay on the history of women artists.
Call Number: N40 W314ISBN: 0878171509Publication Date: 1975-01-01
Women Making Art by
Women have been making art for centuries, yet their work has been seen as secondary or has gone unrecognized altogether. Women Making Art asks why this is so, and what it would take for us to realize the extent of women's extraordinary contribution to the arts. The author examines work by a wide range of women artists from different cultures and historical periods.
Call Number: JQZ 12-1067ISBN: 0415242770Publication Date: 2003-04-11
Women Artists by
This book contains biographical information on 161 women artist from a variety of artists backgrounds. The artists are organized chronologically by birth date, with birthdates up until 1930.
Call Number: N8354 .B32 1978ISBN: 0810811499Publication Date: 1978-10-01
A biographical dictionary of women artists in Europe and America since 1850 by
This dictionary covers women artists born since 1850. The biographical entries include names, date of birth and death, exhibition information, references/sources (publications, exhibitions, and literature), and when applicable, locations of artwork.
Call Number: JQF 15-1365ISBN: 0710811446Publication Date: 1990
Dictionary of Women Artists by
First Published in 1997. This dictionary contains artist biographies of women artists, all born before 1945 and primarily in Western Countries (Europe and North America). This book contains several contextual survey essays about women artists, such as medieval art, and women as amateur artists. The biographies are robust and there is an extensive bibliography.
Call Number: *R-ART Desk N8354 .D53 1997ISBN: 1884964214Publication Date: 1997-07-01
American Colonial Women and Their Art by
In American Colonial Women and Their Art: A Chronological Encyclopedia, Mary Ellen Snodgrass follows the history of creative expression from the early 1600s to the late 1700s. Drawing upon primary sources--such as letters, diaries, travel notes, and journals--this timeline encompasses a wide variety of artistic accomplishment, such as: -Stitchery, quilting, and rug hooking -Painting, sculpture, and sketches -Essays, poems, and other writings -Dance, acting, and oratory -Musical composition and performance. Featuring appendices that list individuals by skill and by state--as well as a glossary that clarifies the parameters of genres--this volume is essential to the study of Colonial women's art. Resurrecting the efforts of women to record, adorn, and illustrate the spirit of their times, American Colonial Women and Their Art is a valuable resource that will be of interest to students and scholars of gender and women's studies, art history, and American history.
Call Number: JFF 20-9ISBN: 9781442270961Publication Date: 2017-11-10
Women in the Fine Arts by
This book provides a remedy by making available literary references to women artists' lives and social milieu and, more importantly, citing illustrations of their work for serious study. Most of the references are drawn from unindexed sources in books, periodicals, exhibition catalogs and newspapers, accompanied by an illustration guide that directs the reader to specific pictures for further study. Subjects include architects, painters and sculptors since the Renaissance, photographers, recent artists in performance, video and computer fields, and related areas of feminist aesthetics. References are annotated if they represent a major (or only) work of the artist in question.
Call Number: Z7963.A75 A47 1991ISBN: 0899505414Publication Date: 1991-08-01
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century by
A reference source for biographical information on women artists from Canada, Mexico, and the USA. The 1,500 entries cover those artists that were born before 1960, and who have worked in a wide range of arts from painting and sculpture to performance art.
Call Number: JQF 15-1364ISBN: 0824060490Publication Date: 1995-03-01
Women Artists in History by
This revised edition reflects the wealth of recent feminist research in the history of art. The author's goal is to offer students an insight into all phases of women's contributions to visual culture.
Call Number: JQE 15-751ISBN: 0134328736Publication Date: 1996-07-15
Women Artists by
Margaret Barlow's informative and well-researched text highlights the lives and accomplishments of well-known and lesser known women whose art has been influential to the larger society, despite restricted access to formal training, and in the face of societal pressures to conform to prescribed virtues of "womanhood," overcame impediments to pursue successful careers in art through the ages--Judith Leyster, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Angelica Kauffmann, Emily Mary Osborn, Lilly Martin Spencer, Mary Cassatt, Camille Claudel, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Georgia O'Keeffe, Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Dorothea Tanning, and Judy Chicago, are some of the artists highlighted.
Call Number: JQG 08-1266ISBN: 9780789399823Publication Date: 2008-09-09
Subjects to Check in the Catalog
If you are doing in-depth research into women artists, here are some subjects in the Research Catalog to browse:
- Women artists
- There are a number of regional and country-specific subheadings underneath this subject heading as well
- Women artists, Black
- Feminism and art