Incredible Women Who Changed Art and History

Fifteen amazing women artists. Each of them — from a Baroque painter to a sculptor of our time — built a vibrant creative fate, led an exciting life, and created deep and significant works. However, more often than not, women artists, unlike their male counterparts, did not attract the keen attention of the global cultural community. This substantive and engaging book fills in some of the most glaring gaps. Bridget Quinn pays tribute — and does so teasingly, passionately, and sometimes even boldly — to such different masters as Artemisia Gentileschi and Edmonia Lewis, Vanessa Bell and Louise Bourgeois, Ruth Asawa and Kara Walker. What is the significance of the art they created? What is the value of the lives they lived? Why were they often simply overlooked? And why are they worthy of our attention today? The author raises these and many other questions in her book. The vivid and lively narrative is complemented by reproductions of the most significant works of the fifteen artists. Each is dedicated a separate chapter, the beginning of which is adorned with a portrait of the heroine, specially created for the book by independent illustrator Lisa Congdon. With effortless skill, Bridget Quinn mixes the past and present, personal and public, private and professional — you have never held such a history of art in your hands before.