Lavishly illustrated, this ground-breaking book explores the work and context of a wide range of successful British women sculptors. Aspects addressed include artistic developments, training, exhibiting and written appraisals, examined via a wide range of sculptural forms such as domestic decorative work, portraits, statues, architectural sculpture, war memorials and ecclesiastical work.
The first contemporary survey of postwar British women sculptors from modernism to the YBA's This publication focuses on postwar British women sculptors, including Tracey Emin, Mona Hatoum, Barbara Hepworth, Kim Lim, Sarah Lucas, Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread.
This exhibition catalogue highlights the work of a cross-section of women artists, active during the first half of the 20th century, whose work deserves more critical acclaim. Ever since Linda Nochlin asked in 1971, 'Why have there been no great women artists?', art history has been probing the female gaze. Through scholarship and exhibitions, readings have been put in place to counter prevailing assumptions that artistic creativity is primarily a masculine affair. Fifty Works by Fifty British Women functions as a corrective to the exclusion of women from the 'master' narratives of art. It introduces fifty artworks by known and lesser-known women - outstanding works that speak out. Fifty commentaries by fifty different writers bring out each artwork's unique story - sometimes from an objective art historical perspective and sometimes from an entirely personal point of view - thereby creating a rich and colourful diorama. This exhibition does not, however, attempt to present a survey or to address all the arguments around the history of women and art. Anthologies are of necessity incomplete, and many remarkable imaginations are not here represented. Women artists have been set apart from male artists not only to their own disadvantage but also to the detriment of British art. While there were some improvements for women to access an artistic career in the twentieth century in terms of patronage, economics and critical attention - all the things that confer professional status - women had the least of everything. By showcasing just a few of the remarkable works produced, this exhibition draws attention to the fact that a vision of British twentieth century art closer to a 50/50 balance would not only provide a truer account, but also a more vivid and meaningful narrative. 126 illustrations, 43 b/w
A fascinating new account of the work and lives of Britain’s women artists in the twentieth century. In this revealing chronicle of a fascinating period of social change, artist Carolyn Trant examines the history of women artists in modern Britain, filling in the gaps in traditional art histories. Introducing the lives and works of a rich network of neglected women artists, Voyaging Out sets these alongside such renowned presences as Barbara Hepworth, Laura Knight, and Winifred Nicholson. In an era of radical activism and great social and political change, women forged new relationships with art and its institutions. Such change was not without its challenges, and with acerbic wit Trant delves into the gendered makeup of the avant-garde and the tyranny of artistic “isms.” In Virginia Woolf’s first novel The Voyage Out (1915) her female heroine strives toward a realization of her sense of self, asking what being a woman might mean. In the decades after women won the vote in Britain, the fortunes of women artists were shaped by war, domesticity, continued oppressions, and spirited resistance. Some succeeded in forging creative careers; others were thwarted by the odds stacked against them. Weaving devastating individual stories with spirited critique, Voyaging Out reveals this hidden history.
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, Great Women Artists reflects an era where art made by women is more prominent than ever. In museums, galleries, and the art market, previously overlooked female artists, past and present, are now gaining recognition and value. 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. This essential volume reveals a parallel yet equally engaging history of art for an age that champions a greater diversity of voices. "Real changes are upon us, and today one can reel off the names of a number of first-rate women artists. Nevertheless, women are just getting started."—The New Yorker
Black artists have been making major contributions to the British art scene for decades, since at least the mid-twentieth century. Sometimes these artists were regarded and embraced as practitioners of note. At other times they faced challenges of visibility - and in response they collaborated and made their own exhibitions and gallery spaces. In this book, Eddie Chambers tells the story of these artists from the 1950s onwards, including recent developments and successes. Black Artists in British Art makes a major contribution to British art history. Beginning with discussions of the pioneering generation of artists such as Ronald Moody, Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling, Chambers candidly discusses the problems and progression of several generations, including contemporary artists such as Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili and Yinka Shonibare. Meticulously researched, this important book tells the fascinating story of practitioners who have frequently been overlooked in the dominant history of twentieth-century British art.
The most comprehensive volume of its kind, Gray's Dictionary of British Women Artists offers extensively-researched biographies of some of the most significant female contributors to British art.This volume will make a valuable contribution to the study of art history. It will also provide readers with significant insight into a long-neglected aspect of history - the lives and achievements of women artists. Each entry provides key biographical information, as well as (where possible) commentaryon the artist's studies, lifestyle, travels and family. Entries also detail significant works, exhibitions and membership of societies. Gray's introduction provides a useful context to the biographies.
In Mother Stone Anne Middleton Wagner looks anew at the carvings of the first generation of British modernists, a group centered around Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Jacob Epstein. Wagner probes the work of these sculptors, discusses their shared avant-garde materialism, and identifies a common theme that runs through their work and that of other artists of the period: maternity. Why were artists for three turbulent decades after the First World War seemingly preoccupied with representations of pregnant women and the mother and child? Why was this the great new subject, especially for sculpture? Why was the imagery of bodily reproduction at the core of the effort to revitalize what in Britain had become a somnolent art? Wagner finds the answers to these questions at the intersection between the politics of maternity and sculptural innovation. She situates British sculpture fully within the new reality of “bio-power”—the realm of Marie Stopes, Brave New World, and Melanie Klein. And in a series of brilliant studies of key works, she offers a radical rereading of this sculpture’s main concerns and formal language.
How many women sculptors can you name? This book will challenge perceptions that sculpture is a male pursuit and help you to understand the work and lives of dozens of women sculptors - significant artists from the past as well as those working in the exciting and varied world of sculpture today. Includes: Camille Claudel Barbara Hepworth Elisabeth Frink Niki de Saint Phalle Louise Bourgeois Ruth Asawa Rachel Whiteread Malvina Hoffman Maggi Hambling Cornelia Parker Senga Ningudi Phyllida Barlow Eva Hesse Sophie Ryder and many more...
Consider for a moment the history of modern art in Britain; you may struggle to land on a narrative that features very many women. On this journey through a fascinating period of social change, artist Carolyn Trant fills in some of the gaps in traditional art histories. Introducing the lives and works of a rich network of neglected women artists, British Women Artists sets these alongside such renowned presences as Barbara Hepworth, Laura Knight and Winifred Nicholson. In an era of radical activism and great social and political change, women forged new relationships with art and its institutions. Such change was not without its challenges, and with acerbic wit Trant delves into the gendered make-up of the avant-garde, and the tyranny of artistic isms. In the decades after women won the vote in Britain, the fortunes of women artists were shaped by war, domesticity, continued oppressions and spirited resistance. Some succeeded in forging creative careers; others were thwarted by the odds stacked against them. Weaving devastating individual stories with playful critique, British Women Artists reveals this hidden history.
