Table of Contents

Significant evidence exists which proves women have made art since the beginnings of western civilization. These contributions, however, were largely neglected when art history became a major academic discipline in Europe during the nineteenth century. With the onset of feminism in the 1960s, an interest in "righting the writing" of art history surfaced, and art historians and feminist scholars of the 1970s "recovered" several women artists.  This resulted in a revised western art history which now more accurately  reflected historical evidence.  Women artists have enjoyed a resurgence, due to the reclaiming by art historians of the past few decades.

This pathfinder will provide a number of sources for the reader to consult about the topic of women artists who worked as painters or sculptors in Europe from the Middle Ages to the early Baroque period.  This pathfinder was designed as a class project intended to provide an academic aid to students and researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  With very few exceptions, the resources mentioned within are available at this campus.  PLEASE NOTE:  This website is still under construction. It is best viewed with Netscape 4.6 or higher, or Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.

Dates of Publication

A number of writings from the 1970s have been included for various reasons.   For one, they are the product of the feminist wave which was the catalyst behind the renewed interest in women artists.  They also reflect the early results of art history revisionism, and thus provide resources for those who wish to investigate the state of the scholarship when it was a relatively new area of inquiry.  Some researchers may want to compare the publications of the late 1990s with those written during earlier periods in order to chart the discipline's progress during the past few decades.

Dictionaries

A worthwhile place to begin your research is by consulting encyclopedias and dictionaries.   Following are three very useful reference sources.

Petteys, Chris. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900. G.K. Hall, 1985. Sloane, reference: N43.P47 1985

• This single-volume publication includes more than 21,000 women painters, sculptors, printmakers and illustrators from around the world.  Arranged alphabetically, Petteys gives the artist's name, birth and death dates and places, the medium/media used, style/type of art (such as landscape painter), art education, exhibition(s), and a list of bibliographical references.  This work seems to function more as a directory more than a dictionary, since  the entries are limited to the base essentials as noted above.   Nor are there any introductory essays, chronological divisions, or any type of groupings.  The only editorial discretion is that Petteys includes as much information for lesser-known artists as for the well-known ones.  The length of the entry has nothing to do with the artist's prominence; lesser-known artists are sometimes dealt with more extensively simply because other publications ignore them, and Petteys knows that her reader can obtain more information about the more popular artists from other publications.  Chronological divisions would have helped the reader looking for women from a particular time frame, such as that covered by this pathfinder.  This dictionary is nevertheless useful for its sheer scope.

• The dictionary is intended to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the visual arts of every culture and civilization from prehistory to the present, in encyclopedic form. It is not surprising that it includes entries on women artists because, like most reference works, it reflects the cultural attitudes and scholarly methodologies of its discipline. This work was created after the feminist wave of the 1970s, so The Dictionary of Art understandably has a significant entry on “women in art history” written by the noted art historian, Griselda Pollock (37: 307-16). (Other historians continue the entry by offering coverage of women artists from the non-Western world).  Women artists can be located not only in this lengthy article, but also in articles devoted to selected movements, styles, and themes.  Also included in this 34-volume set are individual biographical entries for better-known women artists.  Following is a list of those artists, accompanied by the volume and page numbers of their specific biographies. Please note that these artists appear elsewhere in the text as well; check the index in volume 34 for a full accounting of their appearances: Herrad(e) von Landsburg (14: 467-68), Levina Teerlinc/Teerling (30: 411-12), Properzia de’ Rossi (27: 202), Plautilla Nelli (22: 202), Caterina van Hemessen (14: 382), Sofonisba Anguissola (2: 93-94), Lavinia Fontana (11: 268-69), Barbara Longhi (19: 631), Marietta Robusti (31: 18-19), Fede Galizia (12: 11), Artemisia Gentileschi (12: 306-09), Giovanna Garzoni (12: 169-70), Magdalena van de Passe (24: 235-36), Judith Leyster (19: 292-93), Louise Moillon (21: 797), Clara Peeters (24: 324), Geertruydt Roghman (26: 542-43), Maria van Oostervijck (23: 447-48), Mary Beale (3: 444), and Elisabetta Sirani (28: 787-88). Other lesser known artists, such as Ende, Hildegard von Bingen (surprisingly not with her own entry), Anna Visscher, Isabella Parasole, Margaretha de Heer, Anna Maria van Schurman, Gesina ter Borch, are noted throughout the dictionary, though they do not have their own separate entires. Refer to index in volume 34 to find mentions of these artists. There are bibliographies for each entry in the entire set; they are an excellent lead to further information, and are recommended highly. This expansive set is as current as any publication can be which took twelve years in the making. 

• This work profiles approximately 550 women artists from around the world, from the tenth to twentieth centuries.  Its emphasis is on Western art, from an historical rather than a theoretical perspective. Each entry provides a brief personal and professional biography of the artists, including such information as vital statistics, nationality, education, exhibitions, and media.  Each article is illustrated, includes a bibliography, and a signed interpretive essay. They are of varying length, depending upon the amount of information available about the artist and her predominance in the field. Some entries contain previously unpublished material, as well as information available in English for the first time. Specific works are discussed that exemplify the artist's style and activity.  The book begins with introductory essays which function as surveys about such topics as artistic training and the changing conditionsof work for women artists from the Middle Ages to the present.

Directory

At UNC, there is only one publication that both describes itself and is classified as a directory that includes women artists before1650.

Women's History Research Center. Female Artists, Past and Present. 2nd ed. Berkeley, Calif.: The Center, 1975. Davis, stacks, 6th floor: N43.W65 1975

• This entry is included only for its historical perspective and its unique choice of compilated material.  It is primarily devoted to providing a directory of current working artists and women working in other areas of the visual arts, such as art historians, teachers, gallery and museum personnel, critics, and writers.  There is a small section of women artists in history, which lists various artists along with the material published about them (which was very little in 1974). This work may be useful for those doing specialized historiographical research, but I recommend the dictionaries and bibliography sections of this pathfinder to those searching for biographical and bibliographical information.

Bibliography

Piland, Sherry. Women Artists: an Historical, Contemporary and Feminist Bibliography.  2nd ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1994. Davis, reference; Sloane, stacks, 2nd floor: N8354.P553

• This is an update to the 1978 publication (with Donna G. Bachmann).  Expanded to include an additional 29 artists, the second edition also includes additional annotated entries for the painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors, and craftswomen represented in the earlier volume (architects are not included in this edition, as they were in the first). The main section consists of 185 individual artist bibliographies, arranged by century from the early Middle Ages through the 20th century, with a cutoff birth date of 1930.  A short biographical sketch introduces each artist, and most of the bibliographies close with a list of public collections in which examples of the artist's work can be found. Other than this original, and the aforementioned Female Artists, Past and Present (which also lists itself as a directory), this is the only bibliography about historical women artists.  Fortunately, it is an excellent source.  It is comprehensive, well-organized, and fairly current.  Piland has produced a superb publication that is most useful to the serious researcher.

General Histories

Revisionist history is an effort to include that which has been ignored, neglected, falsified, or marginalized, which was the unfortunate destiny of most women artists.  The following sources provide a general history of women artists, building upon the revisionist history of the 1970s.

Tufts, Eleanor. Our Hidden Heritage: Five Centuries of Women Artists. London: Paddington Press, 1974. Davis, stacks, 6th floor: N43.T83

• The author is intent upon finding out why so little is known about women artists rather than addressing the obstacles they encountered in any great detail. Tufts seems more concerned with advancing the amount of knowledge available about women artists, and to that end, she aims to introduce some lesser known artists in the hope that future scholars will look into their work. (She has continued her interest in women artists in six other books.) Like other surveys, this is written to introduce the subject rather than to provide rare nuggets of knowledge. 

• Petersen and Wilson provide an historical overview of women artists, chronologically arranged, in an aim to correct an art history that had been unexamined until recently. The authors are not art historians, but instead, literature majors with an interest in women’s issues. Wisely, they avoided serious attempts at formal and iconographical analyses of the works. Nonetheless, they have carried out their research well-enough that their works have been consulted by later art historians who have also written about women artists. They include historical and social overviews that are helpful as well. Like most other historical surveys here is not a great deal of information about women before the mid-seventeenth century, but I still recommend this work for those wanting an overview of the subject, at a general level. 

• Each chapter begins with an introduction to the historical period. Fine is known in art historical circles not only as a teacher and scholar, but also as the editor of Woman’s Art Journal. The section on women artists before 1650 is shorter than the other histories, but the introduction makes this book worthwhile, yet limited. 

• This work has been revised three times, attesting to the longevity of Slatkin’s style and content. One criticism aimed at Slatkin is that she has not adequately assimilated new scholarship into each revised edition, contrary to what has been proclaimed in the notes for the book. Yet there are reasons why students will find this work beneficial. One is that Slatkin begins at prehistory, which is unique in historical surveys, thereby adding to the merit of consulting this book. Her revisions have included completely expanded chapters on prehistory, Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages. Another reason the way she situates and compares the women artists in relation to their male contemporaries. Because of this longer than usual time span, many entries are rather cursory, but it is a necessary sacrifice to fulful her objectives–to produce a concise, brief history of women artists throughout time. The book is more introductory in scope than advanced, which will suit the beginning scholar rather than one who is searching for more detailed materials. 

• In her preface, Chadwick addresses the feminist findings of the 1970s which dealt with such problems as marginalization, exclusion, and gender issues. For instance, she points out numerous instances in which a woman's works have been attributed to her less talented father, lover or simply another, more famous male contemporary. She calls for a need for new critical and historical language when looking at women’s art. The balance of the book is chronologically-arranged chapters in which Chadwick places women in their social and artistic culture. On the whole, this is more academically advanced than the other historical surveys, and has often appeared on university syllabi. It would be wonderful to see this work updated to reflect the scholarship of the past ten years; updates to the already comprehensive bibliography would be an asset as well. She pays significant attention to artists up to the seventeenth century, which is an additional benefit to those researching early women artists. Approximately one-third of the book (preface and first four chapters) is useful for the timeframe covered by this pathfinder, and is well worth the attention. 

• This book is probably the most beautifully illustrated of all listed in this pathfinder. While some would assume that that text suffers as a result, this is incorrect. Don't be fooled by the larger than usual size print, glossy paper, and the numerous colour reproductions. Heller appeals to a vast audience reader by offering "coffee table" book with well-researched text. It is a pleasure to read, intellectually as well, for she writes not only the standard biographical fare, but also about the obstacles they encountered and the artistic contributes they made to art. There is a great deal of information contained in this book, and could prove to an excellent resource for all levels of research.

Related Texts

It is often difficult to differentiate between feminist theory in art and the reinstatement of women artists into art history.  Without the former, there would certainly be no latter. Some feminist art history deals with how women depicted in works of art function, while serves to contextualize the historical setting in which the art was created. The following works adapt a feminist framework upon which to map the history of women artists of the past.

Miner, Dorothy Eugenia. Anastaise and Her Sisters: Women Artists of the Middle Ages. Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1974. Sloane, stacks, 2nd floor: ND2920.M54

• This is a 24-page pamphlet which reproduces a lecture given by Miner in 1972 in response to the exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery entitled "Old Mistresses: Women Artists of the Past."  (Not included in this pathfinder since only one artist falls within this timeframe.)  Miner's intent is to address the women artists of the Middle Ages such as manuscript illuminators, who were not included in the exhibition.  Miner was the Librarian and Keeper of the Manuscripts at the gallery; she was also the president of the Baltimore Bibliophiles, to whom this lecture was presented.  This publication is interesting, presented in a knowledgeable and accessible manner, and worth the short time it takes to read it.  No bibliography included.

• Greer separates this work into two parts: the first, “obstacles,” is further divided into areas dealing with the types of obstacles that aspiring or practicing women artists would encounter. The second, “how they ran,” is developed in a chronological manner. She addresses women artists of all times, and pays enough attention to women before 1650 to merit inclusion in this pathfinder. Because she is not an art historian, some scholars have criticized Greer for not being “of the discipline.” She is a feminist writer, however, which underscored her intentions and helped deliver an interesting and provocative book at the peak of the feminist publication wave in art history. 

• Parker and Pollock attempt to answer such complex and arguable issues as the reasons why women were erased from art history, how women artists were misrepresented, the subjectivity of the writing of art history, the social and scholarly ramifications of their negation from art history.  This book is organized thematically rather than chronologically.  It is academically-written, without biographical sketches of the artists, prompted by a feminist theoretical methodology.  An important book that should be consulted by all researchers of women artists.

• Jacobs examines art criticism written between 1550 and1800 on approximately forty women artists working in Italy during that time.  This criticism evokes gender issues, linking their artistic “creations” with their capacity to deliver biological “creations.”  The author demonstrates how deeply the biases of these early critics influenced the artists from their own time forth.  She cites as the basis of her study the use of terminology, and how the critical language of art was used differently to discuss the work of women as it was to the work of men.  This is a one-of-a-kind collection, and is invaluable for anyone doing serious research on women artists during this timeframe.

• Any book on this topic is welcomed by art historian, since there is a decided dearth in publications about art done by women in religious orders, which was primarily viewed by other nuns. This is unfortunate, since almost all of the women artists before the Renaissance were indeed nuns. There is an emphasis in this book that the artistic output of the nuns was based on the expression of female spirituality, a view adopted by other scholars as well. This work is quite unique, and should not be overlooked when researching medieval women artists. You may want to supplement this book with Storey, Ann. "A Theophany of the Feminine: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schonau, and Herrad of Landsberg." Woman's Art Journal 19.1 (spring/summer 1998): 16-20. The author posits that these women used religious iconography to help claim a place for women in the male-dominated church of the Middle Ages.  

Monographs

Many women artists were able to earn a living, and received prestigious commissions, as is evident in the following books devoted to one particular artists.

Garrard, Mary D.   Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989. Sloane, reserve: ND623.G364G37 1989

• Artemisia Gentileschi is considered to be the most important woman artist before the modern period.  She was a major Italian Baroque painter of the seventeenth century and the only female follower of Caravaggio.  Garrard’s book is the first full-length study of her life and work.  Gentileschi treats her female subjects as powerful women, which is a vast departure from the way the same women were depicted by men. Books devoted exclusively to one woman artist are rare, and Garrard has chosen a topic that warrants the full attention that a monograph can allow.

• Like all good scholars, Hofrichter discusses Leyster in terms of her socioeconomic, artistic, and cultural contexts, but even moreso.  This is very much an interdiscplinary look at an artist in terms of her surroundings and her productions, including the results of new technical evidence that substantiates Leyster’s authorship.  The subject of this work was a remarkable woman–the only female to be a member of the painter’s guild in Haarlem during her time.  This book has been well-received for its accuracy, style, and content, and is highly recommended.

• The author successfully establishes Anguissola’s role as an important woman artist of the Renaissance whose work was respected by such well-regarded artists as Michelangelo and Anthony Van Dyck.  Perlingieri makes new attributions, based on apparently sound research. The author has been criticized for her lack of academic rhetoric and for (perhaps) simple reiteration of already published material.  But since very few books exist on the exclusive subject of Anguissola, it is a good idea to consult this work when looking for in-depth information about this long-neglected artist.  There are a few technical and editing errors, but these should be overlooked in context of the larger picture.

• This is a full, comprehensive work that rivals Garrard’s work of ten years prior in more ways than one.Bissell’s study often offers a different interpretation of Gentileschi’s life and works than does Garrard’s.  This scholarly work, which has been labelled “definitive” by some critics, should be consulted in conjunction with its predecessor for the most comprehensive study of Gentileschi.  The comparison between the two books will hopefully be intellectually stimulating and engaging to the researcher. 

Exhibition Catalogues

Since the exhibitions of the 1970s devoted to women artists, there have been dozens of exhibitions of work by women artists, organized according to geography, race, style, or those from one particular collection or adopting one specific theme. The European women artists of centuries past have now become part of the art historical canon, and are less likely to be combined into one exhibition. Instead, they are the sole focus, or they make up very little or no part of the exhibition.  The following catalogues will be useful for a survey of women artists, or as a research source for one specific artist.

Women Artists: 1550-1950.  Exh. cat.  December 21, 1976 - March 13, 1977, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; April 12 - June 12, 1977, University Art Museum, The University of Texas at Austin; July 14 - September 4, 1977, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; October 8 - November 27, 1977, The Brooklyn Museum. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976. Sloane, stacks, 2nd floor; Undergraduate, stacks: N6350.H35

• Ann Sutherland Harris and Linda Nochlin, who authored the excellent lengthy introductory essay, were the curators of the largest exhibition of women artists ever held to this point. This scholarly yet accessible catalogue is rich in cultural, artistic, and biographical information. In the bibliographies (divided into a number of sections: according to artist, collections, exhibitions, and general literature), the authors seem to include virtually all the scholarship on women artists that existed at the time of publication. It also includes an index of women artists mentioned in the essay, separated by those who were and were not included in the exhibition.  (A little known fact is that financial restrictions was the reason why some of the paintings in the exhibit were not considered to be the best representation of an artist’s work, and this quality may have reflected slightly negatively on the calibre of the works.) This is a valuable research tool as the written record of one of the most important exhibitions of women artists. While the vast majority of artists fall after the period of this pathfinder, this catalogue is valuable for its scholarship and historical precedence.

• The is an important resource for those researching this artist, for the catalogue includes twenty-four of her paintings and two academic essays: “Sofonisba Anguissola: The First Woman Painter” by Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, and “Sofonisba Anguissola: Her Life and Work” by Maria Kusche. While many of the bibliographic sources are not in English, the bibliography will still be useful for serious scholars of Sofonisba Anguissola.

• This beautifully illustrated catalogue includes two scholarly essays: “Lavinia Fontana: A Woman Artist in the Age of the Counter-Reformation” by the curator, Vera Fortunati, and “Women Artists of Bologna: The Self-Portrait and the Legend from Caterina Vigri to Anna Morandi Manzolini (1413-1774)” by Angela Ghirardi.  This is the first exhibition of her work in the United States, and includes thirty-one of her paintings, plus a painting by her father, and a medal struck by one of her contemporaries, Felice Antonio Casoni.  The catalogue includes an additional section on women artists of Bologna–painters, sculptors, and engravers, with invaluable text and illustrations.  I strongly recommended this book for those researching either Fontana or other Bolognese women artists.  Many of the bibliographical sources are in Italian, but will nonetheless be helpful for the advanced researcher.

Historical Scholarship

One of the first sources consulted by art historians of the 1970's were the following books by scholars of the past. These are useful for comparative purposes when tracking the progress of knowledge.

Ellet, Elizabeth Fries. Women Artists in All Ages and Countries. New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1859. Davis, stacks, 6th floor: N43.E4

• “Mrs. Ellet,” as she was known to the following generations of art historians, wrote this book as a comprehensive response to the short work on the topic of women artists written by Ernst Guhl in the eighteenth century. According to Mrs. Ellet, this had been the only book ever written on the topic. She discusses the causes of the neglect of women artists in history books, and provides a general history and introduction to each chronologically based chapter. This is most likely the first book exclusively dealing with women artists, and for that reason, it is interesting for its historical perspective.  567 artists in all are named.

• This work appears to be the first dictionary of women artists, although it is neither described nor catalogued that way. The book is divided into two sections; first, “Mrs. Clement” provides an historical overview in her fifty-page introduction, and then she offers almost 400 pages of alphabetically-ordered short entries of women artists (563 in total), consisting of brief biographies and list of works. Women in the Fine Arts merits attention as the first work of its kinds, and to note the extent of scholarship on this topic in 1904.

• This book deals with the lives and careers of four famous Bolognese artists: Caterina dei Vigri, the nun, Properzia de' Rossi, the sculptor, Lavinia Fontana, the portraitist, and Elisabetta Sirani, the painter. Ragg chose this city because of its reputation for being “a mother and a nurse of genius.” She situates each biographical context with its social one.  This book is valuable for scholars who are researching this one specific area, with an eye to the historical knowledge in 1907.

• Using poetic discourse, Sparrow writes with loving indulgence about women artists form the past five centuries. This is the type of scholarship that revisionists of the 1970s acknowledge as being harmful but not hateful, truly in the spirit of his time. He devotes very little time to each artist, whom he describes with floral analogies. This book is useful to the scholar who wants to look at the history of the writing of women artists at that time period in terms of contents and style; Sparrow’s book is not recommended to those researchers who want anything more than this.

Essays and Journal Articles

All of these articles deal with the history of women artists and the (non)existence of writings about them.  They can be found in the  bound periodical section at Sloane, 1st floor.

Nochlin, Linda. "Why Have There Been no Great Women Artists?" ArtNews 69.6 (January 1971): 22-39, 67-71. Accompanied by de Kooning, Elaine, et al. "Eight Artists Reply to 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?'" ArtNews (January 1971): 40-44, 62-67.

• Nochlin's piece is the seminal article for this topic, for it is the one credited with motivating dozens of scholars to immediately pursue the reappraisal and reinstitution of women into art history. According to Nochlin, women were not as "great" artists in the past for several reasons, notably because of their restricted access to education and apprenticeship, they were forbidden to draw from nudes, social pressures to marry and to bear children, and limited opportunities to travel and exhibit. While agreeing with Nochlin in general, some scholars have taken her to task about the concept of greatness, and how that needs to be contextualized. Nochlin’s article is preceded by the following editorial comment: “Implications of the Women’s Lib movement for art history and for the contemporary art scene–or, silly questions deserve long answers; followed by eight replies.”  

• The author provides us with a history of women’s art history in print, going back as far as Pliny (1st c. A.D.) and Vasari (16th c.). In the mid-nineteenth century, women artists were written about again, but only to be attacked. She asks if women were marginalized because of the first wave of women rights conventions that were occurring around the same time. When works of art by women were written, it was not in a critical and historical way, as were the male artists, but in more of a personal and biographical manner, as if they were on uneven playing fields.  This is a short, yet worthwhile resource for those wanting to know about written sources dealing with women artists in history.

• The authors review writings that have appeared in the past fifteen years that deal with women in art and the history of the women artists movement. This scholarly work outlines the history of feminist art and art history, discusses the interrelated themes, and concludes with a discussion of critical and historical methodologies. The footnotes are a fine bibliographic source which should not be ignored. This work should be consulted by advanced researchers looking into historiography of women’s art. It is an essential source for understanding the roots of current debates about women artists and feminist issues in art history; it is also valuable as a comprehensive review of debates and issues dealt with by feminist art historians up to 1987.  For those interested in a review from earlier dates, similar articles are as follows: Orenstein, Gloria Feman. “Review Essay: Art History.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 1.2 (1975): 505-525; and Russell, H. Diane. “Review Essay: Art History.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 5.3 (1980) 468-481.  The writers of all three articles are interested in the state of the discipline and engaged criticism as a means to promote writings and interest in women artists.

Periodicals

All of the scholarly art journals publish articles and reviews about women artists. The following publications deal almost exclusively with women artists past and present, feminist scholarship, and contemporary culture. I have included only those journals which publish academic-quality articles about historical women artists.

Feminist Art Journal

• Debuting in 1972, this high-quality journal included serious scholarship and research, often related to controversial issues of the day. It rode the crest of the new interest in women artists, and ceased publication in 1977. Sloane, bound periodicals, 1st floor.

• This publication began in 1980, and ceased in 1985. It featured both current news and longer articles about the role of feminism in the art of women, both past and present. Davis Folio (southwest corner of 5th floor): HQ1389.F3

• This feminist journal of art and politics premiered in 1977. Each issue focused on a particular theme, and was developed by a different editorial collective. It ceased publication in 1996. Sloane, bound periodicals, 1st floor.

• A leading international, interdisciplinary journal in women's studies, Signs publishes articles dealing with issues of gender, race, culture, class, sexuality, and/or nation.  Several articles about historical women artists  and their place in the writing of art history have appeared in this journal.  It began in 1975, and is still publishing to date. Davis, stacks, 5th floor, HQ1101.S5, and current issues shelves; Law Stacks, K23 .I35 and current issues shelves.

• Beginning in 1980, this journal is devoted exclusively to women and issues related to women in all areas of the visual arts. Articles range in subject matter, and addresses historical periods from antiquity to the present. It is still in publication. Sloane, bound periodicals and current issues shelves, 1st floor.

• Since its inception as Women Artists Newsletter in 1975, this journal has focused on women in the arts, featuring exhibition reviews, book reviews, and other areas of interest, both general and scholarly. In1978, it changed its title to Women Artists News, and in 1994, it became Women Artists News Book Review. It now reviews books on the arts, architecture, design, women artists and writers, and covers publications on women's issues and literary criticism. Sloane, bound periodicals and current issues shelves, 1st floor.

Databases and Indexes

Bibliography of the History of Art

• This database indexes and abstracts (in French or English) more than 2,500 periodicals publishing the current literature of European and American art from late antiquity to the present. It includes books, exhibition catalogs, dissertations, electronic publications, conference proceedings, and journal articles from 1973 to the present.  The subjects covered include art and fine art, decorative and applied arts, archaeology, and architecture.   This is not accessible on-line at this campus; it is available only in print and by CD-Rom.  Sloane, reference (print and CD-Rom)

• Formerly known as Art Index, this database indexes (since September,1984) and abstracts (since March,1994) art publications such as periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, exhibition listings, competition and award notices, interviews, film reviews, and selected books. This is accessible on-line on campus, or at home using a UNC-proxy.  Also Sloane, reference (print and CD-Rom).

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Following are the subject headings that are the most relevant for historical women artists.

Primary Browsing Areas

These subjects deal with the topic of women artists in general.

• Women artists -- Bibliography
• Women artists -- Biography
• Women artists -- Biography -- Dictionaries
• Women artists -- Biography -- History and criticism
• Women artists -- Directories
• Women artists -- Exhibitions
• Women artists -- History
• Women artists -- Italy -- Biography -- History and criticism
• Women artists -- Periodicals

These subjects deal with cultural contextualization as it affects women artists.

• Art and society
• Feminism and art
• Women in art

These subjects deal with particular women artists.

• Anguissola, Sofonisba
• Beale, Mary
• von Bingen, Hildegard (see Hildegard, Saint)
• Fontana, Lavinia
• Galizia, Fede
• Garzoni, Giovanna
• Gentileschi, Artemisia
• von Landsberg, Herrad(e), (see Herrad, of Landsberg, Abbess of Hohenburg)
• Leyster, Judith
• Sirani, Elisabetta
• Vigri, Caterina (see Catherine, of Bologna, Saint)

Visual Links and Websites

Visual Links

Following is a chronological list of some of the better-known women artists of the past.  By clicking on each name, you can see art which is representative of each artist's style.

Ende, active 975, Spanish (this link includes works by other nuns during the Middle Ages)

Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179, German

Herrade von Landsberg, 1125-1195, German (the images are tracings and copies of the original works, which no longer exist)

Properzia de' Rossi, 1490-1530, Italian

Sibylla de Bondorff, late 15th century, German

Andriola de Baracchis, late 15th century, Italian

Levina Teerling, 1520-1576, Flemish

Caterina van Hemessen, 1528-after 1587, Flemish

Sofonisba Anguissola, 1532/35-1625, Italian

Lucia Anguissola, 1540-1565, Italian

Barbara Longhi, 1552-1638, Italian

Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614, Italian

Marietta Robusti (Tintoretto), 1560-1590, Italian

Fede Galizia, 1578-1630, Italian

Artemisia Gentileschi, 1593-1652, Italian

Judith Leyster, 1609-1660, Dutch

Mary Beale, 1633-1699, British

Elisabetta Sirani, 1638-1665

Websites

Following are other useful websites that offer links to information and visuals about women artists from history.

Works of Art Online

 Artcyclopedia is an excellent cyberspace art gallery.  It provides visual links to works of art by over 6000 artists in various museum and collection sites around the world.  Since you can search according to artist, movement, medium, subject, and nationality, this is a very worthwhile site for finding images.  This is not very useful for looking at images created by medieval women artists, however.  These are better found by searching on the web using Google or your favourite search engine,. Another image locater can be found at Art History Resources on the Web.

National Museum of Women In the Arts

As the helpful introduction informs you, the National Museum of Women in the Arts is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the contributions of women artists.  Their webpage offers the usual  information about the museum, selected artists, and the collection.  It also allows the viewer to look at selected works from their permanent collection, and to take a tour with the museum's founder.  This site is also useful for the biographical insights and bibliographic recommendations.

Art Historical Resources

Art on the Web supplies links to websites that deal with virtually every aspect of art history.  It is probably the most comprehensive art history website on the Internet, and is indispensable to the researcher.  Another all-encompassing site, Art History Resources on the Web, provides thorough coverage of art history resources on the internet, and is also invaluable.  It does not, however, have a specific section entitled "women artists."  Another website, constructed by the Art History Webmasters Association, provides links to art history sites.  All of the above websites are non-commercial, academically-oriented.  Finding information about women artists on the linked sites is not always easily available, but these sites are important resources for students of any aspect of art history.

Hildegard of Bingen

European Women Artists

This webpage project on Italian Women Artists was created for a course in Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona, and like the previous site, is attentive to text and research. There are four interlinked pages:“ Under-Representation of Women Artists During this Period,” “European Women Artists of the 15th-18th Centuries,” “Women Artists of the Renaissance Period,” and “Women Artists of the Baroque Period.” They are well-written and researched short essays that will give the reader more information than is usually found on webpages dealing with women artists from the medieval to baroque periods.  Another webpage made for this course is called Women Artists in Early Modern Europe, which is another excellent example of well-written essays available on the web.  Topics covered are "Under-Representation of Women Artists During this Period," "Women Artists of the 14th-18th Centuries," "Women Artists of the Renaissance Period," "Women Artists of the Baroque Period," and "Italian Women Artists of the 15th and 16th Centuries."

Reference Publications Focusing on Later Women Artists

Virtually all of the reference sources include women artists from the seventeenth century to the present day.  The following resources are specifically focused on these topics as well.

Dunford, Penny. Biographical Dictionary of Women Artists in Europe and America Since 1850. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989. Sloane; Undergraduate, reference: N6757.D86 1989

McCracken, Penny. Women Artists and Designers in Europe Since 1800: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: G.K. Hall & Co.; London: Prentice Hall International, 1998. Sloane, stacks, 2nd floor: Z7963.A75M33

Beckett, Wendy. Contemporary Women Artists. 2nd ed. New York: Universe Books, 1999. Sloane, reference; Undergraduate, stacks: N8354.C66 1999

WEB-TIP:  To sign up for a listserv to discuss contemporary women artists, feminist art history, or women artists from the past, visit the Fine Art Forum Resource Directory Webpage at Mississippi State University.

Other Items of Interest

Juvenile Literature

For budding art historians, Leslie Sills has written non-fiction books about women artists that are geared to 8-16 year olds.   These books are not about women artists from before 1650, yet I have included them as an item of interest.  Both books have a lot to offer to young readers.  They are both entertaining and instructive, for they are written in a story-like manner, yet maintain accuracy.

Sills, Leslie. Inspirations: Stories about Women Artists. Morton Grove, Ill.: A. Whitman, 1989. SILS, juvenile, 1st floor: J759.13

• Sills writes about twentieth-century artists Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Alice Neel, and Faith Ringgold. 

• Sills carries on the tradition, this time featuring the lives and works of four pioneering women artists: Mary Cassatt, Leonora Carrington, Betye Saar, and Mary Frank.

The film, Artemisia (1997), is ostensibly a biographical film about the life of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653).  It is an Italian film, spoken in French with English subtitles.  Artemisia was taught art by her father Orazio, an artist himself, until she surpassed his ability.  Orazio then hired another artist, Agostino Tassi, to continue as her teacher.   Although the allegations were against Tassi, it was Artemisia who was put through humiliation and torture (the thumbscrew scenes are distinctly unpleasant).  This movie should not be construed as being completely accurate in historical term, but it is still the only movie that deals with the subject matter of women artists from past history.  If you approach the film as fiction, it can be enjoyed as a drama about historical inequality and life in seventeenth century Italy. This film is available here in Chapel Hill and Carrboro at the following video outlets:  VisArt Video, 301 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (967-9248); Blockbuster Video, 18 Eastgate Shopping Centre, Chapel Hill (942-2100) and Wizard of Vid, Carrboro Plaza, Carrboro (967-9299).

A far better video was produced in Canada in 1992 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.  It was written and directed by a well-known arts reporter, Adrienne Clarkson, who also narrated the drama along with the writer and feminist, Germaine Greer.  Its historical accuracy far surpasses the supposed “biopic” Artemisia, but unfortunately, the Canadian documentary of the same name is not available for rental or purchase in this country.

WEB-TIP:  Browsing through The Art Historians' Guide to the Movies offers different ideas about how artists and art function in film. 

This pathfinder was prepared by Melinda Ellison, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Education:  B.A. (Hons.), Western Literature and Civilization/Art History; M.A., Art History (both degrees from The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada); currently enrolled as a Master's student in the School for Information and Library Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.