We Are Artists: Women who Made their Mark on the World

by Kari Herbert

Wonderfully illustrated throughout, this book tells inspiring stories of fifteen women artists who made a lasting impact on art and the world through their lives and work. A richly illustrated book, We Are Artists celebrates the life and work of fifteen female artists from around the globe and the distinctive mark they made on art. Presented as a collection of exciting biographical stories, each section reveals how the artist’s unique approach and perspective provided art and society with a new way of seeing things. We Are Artists places the spotlight on women painters, sculptors, printmakers, illustrators, designers, and craftswomen who created monumental artwork, often against daunting odds. The book includes reproductions of modern and contemporary artwork by Frida Kahlo, Yayoi Kusama, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alma Thomas, and Kenojuak Ashevak, to name a few. Through their personal stories, readers will learn about the art movements each artist worked in and the influence they exerted on both the art world and society as a whole. This book starts to rewrite art history for the next generation, and will inspire young readers and artists everywhere. Illustrated in color throughout

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Feminism, Childrens, Womens

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2019

Reviews

[Amy Bare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous book, only “complaint” is that some of the writing felt clunky

[➸ Gwen de Sade · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was wonderful. Unlike the other Rebel Books, the explanations about the artists here are a bit more detailed and you can marvel at the artwork while you're at it.

I'd recommend it!

[Rusnė Poligaitė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a short, entertaining, yet enlightening read. Now I am really keen on learning more about these empowering women and their awe-inspiring work. What I adored the most about this book probably were the portraits of each artist at the beginning of every chapter, I found them to be truly stunning.

[Lisa Mcbroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women artists that stuck to their unique style.

[Stefania · Rating 5 out of 5]

15 brilliant artists and I knew only three of them. That shows how little aware we are of the impact that women have in the arts.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

[Angela♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Pensaba que iba a ser más biografía, pero a pesar de contarte las vidas de estas artistas de una forma breve es en narrativa. Es muy interesante leer sobre ellas, ya que no son tan conocidas y algunas han trabajado con pintores muy reconocidos. Es muy rápido de leer

[Anetka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bezieht sich auf die deutschsprachige Ausgabe: Die Gestaltung des Buches ist gelungen. Die Auswahl der 15 Künstlerinnen hochspannend. Auch schön, dass immer Beispiele ihrer künstlerischen Arbeit abgebildet werden. Inhaltlich fand ich es teilweise doch sehr flapsig formuliert und die Recherche schien mir nicht immer sehr genau. Die textliche Umsetzung im Deutschen hat mich zudem sehr geärgert. Der (männliche) Übersetzer und das Lektorat haben - so scheint es mir - hier und da einfach gepennt. Wo soll ich anfangen? Wie kann es sein, dass in einem Buch von 2019 das generische Maskulinum verwendet wird, obwohl es ganz klar um weibliche KünstlerINNEN geht - also nicht "Künstler". Wie kann es sein, dass im Titel von "Malerinnen" (immerhin hier die weibliche Form) gesprochen wird, obwohl es doch auch um Künstlerinnen geht, die auf andere Art kreativ tätig waren und Collagen, Qulits, Skulpturen etc. geschaffen haben. Hat der/die Titelgeber*in das Buch nicht gelesen? Wie kann es sein, dass obwohl sich das Buch in erster Linie an Mädchen richtet (und ich fände es wunderbar, wann Jungs es auch lesen, klar - aber es wird sehr wahrscheinlich vor allem Mädchen geschenkt werden), sie gar nicht nicht adressiert werden, sondern weiterhin auch hier das generische Maskulinum verwendet wird - nach dem Motto "Sei ein Künstler". Warum nicht: "Sei eine Künstlerin. Sei ein Künstler." Wieso ist niemanden aufgefallen, dass Begriffe wie "farbig" und "Rassengleichheit" (in dem Biographienteil am Ende) einfach völlig überholt sind in einem Buch aus heutiger Zeit und da einfach nicht hingehören. Ein Buch, das empowern möchte, aber textlich immer wieder (zumindest im Deutschen) die alten patriarchialen und diskriminierenden Sprachmuster wiedergibt. Irgendwie passt das für mich so gar nicht zusammen. Ich habe mich auf das Buch gefreut und war dann sehr enttäuscht. Mehr Sorgfalt bei der Übersetzung und beim Lekrorat hätte dem Buch gut getan.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

WE ARE THE ARTISTS is a colorful celebration of 15 different women in art. From painters and sculptors to illustrators and craftswomen, this book covers a huge range of art. The artists represented are also carefully gathered from all around the world. Included are women like Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo who I have heard of but it also introduced me to many female artists that were new to me. Each chapter is devoted to one woman. It offers a quote, a portrait, a short biography, and one or two photos of their work. Geared towards ages 8 and up I think this would be such a fun book to work through with a group of elementary schoolers! It's a seriously cool and inspiring nonfiction book for kids.

[Maria Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book compiles the stories of 15 women artists who have contributed to the world and today are role models. Each chapter presents the biography of each artist, an important phrase, and her work. This book has a gender approach and breaks the typical schemes of the essential male artists that have always been in the canon.

Many young adults prefer real information to stories. This book presents in a very colorful and graphic way the lives of 15 artists who deserve to be recognized for their great works and lives. The book is very easy to read and uses appropriate language and graphics to capture the readers' attention easily.

Genre: Art, biographical, historical

Age: I suggest this book for young people between 13 to 16 years old. This is a very colorful book, uses lots of graphics and the language is appropriate for the age mentioned.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a 4 for content, but a 5 for thoughtful design. Firstly, the bright beautiful portraits which lay beside a self-quote. As a "historian," I was at first bothered by the lack of dates and place of origin, but by midpoint I realized this omission actually enhanced the book, as each artists' significance lays well beyond their time and location (and the dates, origin, and brief life summary are included at the end anyway.) I also appreciated how each artist was not defined by their immense hardships such as World Wars, revolutions, illness, racism, poverty, etc., but these challenges were just sort of mentioned in passing and not as identifying characteristics which often occurs. This would be the perfect gift for any lover of art history as its presence would enhance any coffee table or bookshelf.

[Sophia Wordworld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nachdem mir "Anführerinnen, Agentinnen, Aktivistinnen" von Maria Pettersson Lust auf weitere Kurzbiografien einflussreicher Frauen der Geschichte gemacht hat, habe ich mich "Rebel Artists" von Kari Herbert gewidmet. Die grönländische Künstlerin und Autorin stellt hier in fünfzehn Kurzporträts Malerinnen, Bildhauerinnen, Fotografinnen, und andere einflussreiche kunstschaffende Frauen der letzten Jahrzehnte vor. Manche Namen wie Frida Kahlo, die auch das bunte Cover ziert, waren mir dabei vorab schon bekannt, von anderen wie beispielsweise Emily Kame Kngwarreye hatte ich vorher noch niemals gehört. Die Autorin findet für den Einstieg in die Vita der Künstlerinnen jeweils ein Gedicht oder ein inspirierendes Zitat und beschreibt das Leben, das Schaffen und den Einfluss der jeweiligen Frau sehr eindrücklich, sodass die 144 Seiten wie im Flug vergehen.


Das Urteil:

Ein Must-Read für alle, die sich mit Kunst und außergewöhnlichen Frauen beschäftigen wollen, die trotz schwieriger Umstände ihren Weg gegangen sind.

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Middle grade and older readers are introduced to 15 women who influenced the art world in some way. I recognized Georgia O'Keefe and Frida Kahlo, and was interested to learn about Amrita Sher-Gil and Corita Kent. A brief biography is accompanied by an image of the artist's work and a portrait by Kari Herbert. T flipped through this text and asked about different artists (he was excited to recognize Kahlo from other books), but the biographies did not hold his interest. Ideal and worthwhile for older kids.

[Jami M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s good to see that this book has included some women not usually included in the art historical canon. The artists deserve to be included and it makes for a particularly strong book about women who make art. That said, I’m not sure why Eva Hesse has been excluded.

Anyway, it is a lovely format book with gorgeous colorful artwork and nice, weighty pages. It would make a nice gift for someone 10 and under. Or, a special gift for a grown up person that just loves nice books about art, like me.

[Sharon Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book by my daughter for my 50th birthday. I spent a nice Sunday afternoon admiring the beautiful pictures and reading the basic introductions to each artist featured. So many of the artists I had not heard of before, so I can’t wait to research more about each one. I’m also looking forward to painting my own self portrait, writing my life story as an artist, and placing it neatly inside these pages. I would have given it five stars if I thought the writing had flowed better. It was a little choppy to read and had some odd sentence structure and misused commas.

[Littlebookterror · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't listen to this.

With such a low page count, I had wished it would give more of a general overview of women in the art world and give examples when fitting. Instead it gives you a very brief summary of each person with little detail.


The artists included: Ashevak Kenojuak, Barbara Hepworth, Hannah Höch, Tove Jansson, Frieda Kahlo, Corita Kent, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Yayoi Kusama, Gabrielle Münter, Georgia O'Keeffe, Lyuboc Popowa, Faith Ringgold, Amrita Sher-Gil, Alma Thomas, Suzanne Valadon

[Deja Bertucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. The illustrations and text are gorgeous. I learned about female artists I'd never heard of, and learned more about the ones I knew. And now all of those awesome women are in my brain, being beautiful and proud and making things more beautiful and meaningful. I feel like I made a bunch of new best artist friends.

[Sarah Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a children's book about female artists, but it is not done in a childish way. It just gives short information about the artist and shows both the artists' work and the author/illustrator's work. I knew many of these artists, but there were a few I didn't know about and also a few points about the artists I didn't know as well. Definitely worth it to read this short book.

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. the book featured a unique and diverse group of artists; I was pleasantly surprised to find some artists in the book that were new to me and the information about them was well written and researched.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and light read about inspiring women artists and their works. Each chapter is dedicated to an artist, and includes lovely illustrations and highlights of their creations.

It doesn’t go too deep in their stories and works but it’s still a great place to start!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so heard.

[Elsabeat Hernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspirational book for all of us out there trying to make art with the only purpose of being ourselves

[Amanda Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book, I loved reading each excerpt about the woman artists!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic nonfiction overview of 15 female artists. It makes me want to know more about every single one of them!

[Laura Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring book for young girls to be who they want to be!

[Andrea Stegmaier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zu kurz um inhaltlich wirklich erhellend zu sein, aber ein netter Überblick und vielleicht ein guter Einstieg. Mehr wie ein Guggenheim-Museum, als wie eine sorgfältig kuratierte Sammlung.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC!!! Short snippets of different female artists from around the world. And a quote by each one! LOVE!

[Ktnl22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It introduced me to a lot of artists. Those I had heard of before, I learnt about their history. Very interesting read!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book that shares the view of women artists and a short synopsis of their lives. Some of the artists' art is shown in the book.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selection of artists- 5 stars
Book itself- 2.5-3 stars

Wanted more art from each artist and, because I didn't get a good idea of each woman's style from the examples shown.