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A World of Our Own: Women Artists Against the Odds
A new edition of one of the first books to focus on the world of women artists and their practice.
Women have always practiced as artists, but for centuries the art world considered them mere dilettantes. Their work was derided as second-rate, and they were considered intruders in a male profession. This study examines how, against the odds, they overcame these difficulties and shifts the focus away from women artists as "victims" to give an account of how they actually practiced their art. This stirring account documents the centuries- long struggle of gifted women who confronted the exclusionary tactics of a male-dominated art establishment but pressed ahead undaunted to gain acceptance as sought-after professionals.
Art historian Frances Borzello takes readers deep into the restricted world of women artists of the past, showing how diligently they trained themselves, set up studios, and pursued sympathetic patrons. Starting with Renaissance painters Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana, the book reconstructs the changing world of women artists as social attitudes evolved. Seventeenth-century painters Artemisia Gentileschi and Judith Leyster enjoyed success by depicting subjects relevant to women, as did eighteenth- century greats Angelica Kauffman and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun with lucrative commissions. Further breakthroughs came in the nineteenth century as young hopefuls Mary Cassatt and Marie Bashkirtseff strove to be admitted to exhibiting societies and opened art schools. Finally, as equality for women advanced through the twentieth century, Augusta Savage, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, Mona Hatoum, and others led the way for today's talented women to secure their rightful place in the annals of art. Now fully revised and updated, Frances Borzello's engaging narrative continues to inspire.
Women have always practiced as artists, but for centuries the art world considered them mere dilettantes. Their work was derided as second-rate, and they were considered intruders in a male profession. This study examines how, against the odds, they overcame these difficulties and shifts the focus away from women artists as "victims" to give an account of how they actually practiced their art. This stirring account documents the centuries- long struggle of gifted women who confronted the exclusionary tactics of a male-dominated art establishment but pressed ahead undaunted to gain acceptance as sought-after professionals.
Art historian Frances Borzello takes readers deep into the restricted world of women artists of the past, showing how diligently they trained themselves, set up studios, and pursued sympathetic patrons. Starting with Renaissance painters Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana, the book reconstructs the changing world of women artists as social attitudes evolved. Seventeenth-century painters Artemisia Gentileschi and Judith Leyster enjoyed success by depicting subjects relevant to women, as did eighteenth- century greats Angelica Kauffman and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun with lucrative commissions. Further breakthroughs came in the nineteenth century as young hopefuls Mary Cassatt and Marie Bashkirtseff strove to be admitted to exhibiting societies and opened art schools. Finally, as equality for women advanced through the twentieth century, Augusta Savage, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, Mona Hatoum, and others led the way for today's talented women to secure their rightful place in the annals of art. Now fully revised and updated, Frances Borzello's engaging narrative continues to inspire.
- GenresNonfictionArt
320 pages, Hardcover
Published November 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 25, 2025
4.5!! Such a great read and just enough info in each chapter. It kept me very engaged and the writer did such a good job at speaking to each time period. It was an inspiring read for sure!
May 1, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was like a breath of fresh air. Rather than being an in-depth, detailed investigation of the subject, it is more like an overview, suitable for a general reader unfamiliar with art history, like myself, and it is littered with beautiful colored prints of artworks, mostly paintings, which are a feast for the eyes and kept me wholly engaged—similar to an adult picture book. In A World of Our Own, Borzello chooses to focus less on the severe disadvantages, restrictions, and discrimination women were subject to and faced (though she mentions them) and instead discusses the way women persevered over the centuries in the art world despite their handicaps, as well as the joy and satisfaction they found through being artists. I think this perspective and focus is just as necessary as the other one, and it does certainly make for more pleasant, less depressing and frustrating, reading. Finally, despite being republished in 2024, in the heyday of “gender” insanity, Borzello does not mention “trans women” (re: males) when talking about subsets of women who have experienced greater discrimination than others in the history of art; she discusses economic class differences, racial differences, and differences of sexuality, all of which I was glad to see (Romaine Brooks was mentioned at one point—which reminds me that I need to find a way to access her autobiography, because none of the local libraries have it!), but she manages to avoid succumbing to the insanity of kowtowing to men in her book about women’s art history—an achievement that should not be so shocking but which really pleased me! In any case, this is a down-to-earth, engaging, well-written, and beautifully arranged book on women’s art history through the ages, and I am glad I picked it up, despite never having looked deeply into the history of women’s art or feminist art.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews