A Little Feminist History of Art

by Charlotte Mullins

Charlotte Mullins’s A Little Feminist History of Art is a short and pithy introduction to the most important feminist artworks from the late 1960s to the present.

Emerging in the late 1960s as women artists struggled to “de-gender” their work to compete in a male-dominated arena, the feminist art movement has played a leading role in the art world over the last five decades. Using the “female gaze” to articulate socially relevant issues after an era of aesthetic “formalism,” feminist artists, working in a variety of media, have brought attention to ideas surrounding gender, identity, and form. They have critiqued and altered our thinking about the cultural expectations and stereotyping of women, women’s struggle for equality, and the treatment of the female body as a commodity.

Fifty outstanding works reflect women’s lives and experience, the changing position of women artists, and the impact of feminist ideals and politics on visual culture. A Little Feminist History of Art is a celebration of one of the most ambitious, influential, and enduring artistic movements to emerge from the 20th century.

Genres: Art, Feminism, Nonfiction, Art History, History, 21st Century

128 pages, Paperback

Published November 26, 2019

About the author

Charlotte Mullins has written widely on contemporary art, architecture, design and
art history for specialist art magazines, newspapers and exhibition catalogues since 1995.

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this compact publication from London's Tate Gallery, a short essay introduces the concept of feminist art and its key manifestations in (primarily) British and American art. The essay's fairly bland and not particularly sophisticated in its understanding of issues around gender but part of this is likely linked to space constraints. It's followed by a series of images organised by artist, with a page of text facing each illustration. The accompanying descriptions of the art pieces selected are a little disappointing, overly anecdotal and surprisingly vague: there's no real sense of each artist's background or the kind of work they were interested in making or how their work related to wider trends/movements within their sector of the art world. But the selected images are frequently powerful and the production values decent, so taken together they form a visual account of a range of feminist preoccupations within recent art history. I imagine the rationale behind this kind of publication is tied to the gift market, and this would probably make a reasonable present for someone studying art at school or wanting to find out about artists whose work's worth exploring further.

[Anna Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting collection and very accessible introduction to feminist art. One critique I would have is that a number of the photographs do little to accentuate the scale of certain pieces. Where a number of close ups of a space would be more appealing, seemingly random and unfocused viewpoints have been chosen to display whole gallery rooms making it difficult to engage with at times.

[Crazytourists_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to feminist art. I would have liked to see more photos and more information about the actual art, even if that meant leaving a few names out or having a second volume.

[Victoria Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely a gift shop book but must be adjudicated on those terms! good overview of some 20th and 21st century feminist artists

[Sara Mokken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heel veel geleerd over beroemde werken van vrouwen in de kunst. Ga ik het allemaal onthouden, natuurlijk niet, maar ik ben nu wel meer bekend in deze wereld en kan referen naar dit boek voor inspiratie.

[Vienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idea of protest art made me think of violent protests on artwork itself… I love thinking about Richardson’s slashes on Velazquez’s The Toilet of Venus for example — obviously don’t condone destruction of artwork but how iconic would it have been for feminist art if the photograph of the slashes were a piece of protest art itself; lost opportunity on the suffragettes’ account :(

Harrison, Hunt, and Kelley’s ‘Women and work: a document on the division of labour in industry’ reminded me of the startling findings of Booth and Rowntree’s reports on poverty in the UK in the 20th century. If the artists didn’t create an installation (in the name of art) from the photos and first hand accounts of women workers, would their research have had less political impact ? Surprised that in the 70s ‘photography and documentation weren’t seen as art yet’.

Lee Bul’s work —> reminds me of the monster in the Substance

Favs: Linder, Alexis Hunter, Laurie Simmons, Guerrilla Girls, Ann-Sofi Sidén

[Tyra Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was like going to a museum but in a book

[Elisabetta Dent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible and comprehensive, this book is designed as a starting point for those interested in feminist art/art history. Some really amazing artists are included in this little book and the intro personally, got my creative/academic juices flowing. Really easy read with some great further reading examples as well :)

[Skyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a “little” history. This is an incredibly accessible book on feminist art, though almost paradoxically, I wish the author wrote more about each artist/piece included. I’d consider this an enjoyable and effective launching point for deeper learning. 9/10.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda skimmed through it - I'm still often skeptical about feminism, and feminist art used to the butt of various jokes in the fun fun anti-feminism [online] community, mostly concerning the wage gap. And I'm a feminist now and everything, but picking up the book, I still had mixed feelings on the whole matter.
And I guess I still sorta do. I'm not actually particularly well-read in art history, so I was a little disappointed that it wasn't just a book of female artists. But that's on me. The works in here were actually very interesting, all with the intention of communicating feminist ideas, instead of just being aesthetically pleasing. Although sometimes I feel at odds with the ideas (at times I felt that it overly vilified men) I did learn a good amount about feminist art.

[Rebecca McNamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would have been more accurately titled “A Little History of Feminist Art,” but alas. As is the nature of this type of book, the introduction feels too brief and vague, forced into oversimplifying complex concerns. But it provides a nice introduction to the topic and a reminder of some of the key heavy hitters of feminist women artists working in the 1970s onward as well as a few slightly lesser-known (at least by me) artists.

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho, pero quedé esperando más artistas mujeres clásicas. Supongo que igual tiene que ver con la invisibilización y todo, pero ninguna mención a Frida Kahlo igual es raro... De todas formas, me gustó harto.

[thaís bambozzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A autora apresenta 50 artistas mulheres sem se aprofundar muito em suas histórias e obras. Achei útil para conhecer novos nomes e pesquisar mais depois. Podia ter mais artistas latino americanas.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and full of female artists that history forgets.

I think I've used half a sheet of sticky tabs to highlight quotes and artworks! :)

[Amber-Elissa 🐇 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women 💖

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good brief overview of feminist art history however I wish more biographical details were given on the artists featured.

[Gabriella Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!

[Caitlin G · Rating 4 out of 5]

There could have been more

[Emma Bosold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book about feminist art. Many artist I've never heard of before. Very complex and moving art installations.

[Dan Foy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Left me wanting much more.

[Frederique Veldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant overzicht van feministische kunst, al is het bepaald niet uitputtend. groot nadeel is het formaat waardoor veel kunstwerken niet goed te zien zijn. Uiteindelijk heb ik ze op google moeten opzoeken om de details te zien die juist zo relevant zijn.

[nina ✩ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good collection of works but bland writing with limited detail and analysis. A beginner’s guide to a beginner’s guide on feminist art.

[sienna!!!!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love women and art!!!!!!!

[Chris Gianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it when art is being made accessible - explains a lot in plain English.