Another History of Art

by Anita Kunz

The award-winning painter and illustrator Anita Kunz’s sumptuous, witty, feminist alternate history of Western art. Have you ever awakened from a sleepy delirium one morning and imagined that you lived in a different and glorious world where all the recognized masterpieces in the Western pantheon of art history were painted by women? If not, no The renowned and award-winning painter and illustrator Anita Kunz has imagined it for you in her hilariously inventive and masterfully executed Another History of Art. Kunz depicts the most iconic paintings in the history of art ― as if they had been painted by women. Conceived with delicious wit, boundless humor, and an eye for the telling aesthetic detail, Kunz’s recreations are not only stunning paintings in their own right but a sly, revisionist social commentary on the male-dominated history of Western civilization.  What would the same paintings everyone is so familiar with look like drawn by Renée Françoise Magritte, Fiona Bacon, Davina Hockney, Leona Da Vinci, Gertrude Klimt, Henrietta Matisse, Francesca Goya, Paola Picasso, Fernanda Victoria Eugenia Delacroix, Wilhelmina Ottilia Dix, and over 50 other artists (let us not forget Vincenza Van Gogh)? Another History is your chance to find out. Included, on each page opposite the painting, is a single paragraph biography of each woman artist. Another History of Art is a brilliantly satirical, and, yes, feminist, counterfactual history of art conceived, written, and painted by one of our most accomplished contemporary artists. Full-color illustrations throughout.

Genres: Art, History

180 pages, Hardcover

Published July 13, 2021

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kunz reimagines some classic works of art as if they were painted by women. It's pretty funny, each image has an accompanying fictional biography like "Leona Da Vinci".

Some were great, some were a bit obvious. A lot had modern or 20th century cartoon characters in them, which doesn't make much sense. Also lots of monkeys.

My favourite was the Mona Lisa spin where it's just a bored boy. I think it made sense from a gender-swap perspective, I would have liked all the painting to have followed that guideline.

All the art was super well done, totally worth flipping through this if you have access to it. Not sure about a purchase though.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to be a quick read. It was not, because I had to look up the original artwork and compare it side by side. I then also had to take a few moments to reflect on the meaning of both pieces. In a lot of ways I found it satisfying way to appreciate art. I think this is a niche book. If you aren't into classical art or someone skewering art this isn't the book for you.

[Jon Hewelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I think I was expecting more from it?

Which isn't a knock on what Another History of Art is. A collection of beautifully illustrated parodies (pastiches? not sure what term applies) of famous works of art and accompanying bios with the genders switched? Awesome! And powerful in its simplicity: I kept having to reread sentences because I would first parse them with the original pronouns, proving (to me, at least) just how ingrained the gender bias in art is.

That being said, I was hoping there'd be more changes made with the biographies. Granted, I don't know a lot about the lives of artists, but from what I could tell, the bios were the same as if the artists were still dudes.

Maybe that's a statement in and of itself? That a complete flip of the gender bias wouldn't necessarily produce a completely different world, as so often explored in speculative fiction?

But that's just nitty-gritty overthinking. In any case, this is a pretty neat collection of spot-on imitations (again: don't know what the right word is), with a unique conceit, and showcasing the incredible and detailed talent of a single (woman) artist.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get what it was trying to do, but the selection of art pieces for this felt very slapdash. The pieces mixing in modern characters (various cartoon characters, etc) didn’t fit with the whole “reimagining the original art from a feminist perspective” concept. And there was an odd obsession with monkeys? Also at one point we just have 4 random pictures for Vivaldi…? It felt like they were reaching for more pictures to fill up the book, and so grabbed things that didn’t really fit.

Also kinda just made me wish I was reading a book like this but for *actual* historical female artists.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This satirical and feminized history of art made me laugh, taught me about several artists I had never heard of, and provided me with some philosophical questions about the geographic development of art.

[Lora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ms. Kunz has transformed famous paintings into grotesqueries in the name of feminism. What’s with all the creepy monkeys? Does she really have such a low opinion of female artists? The one star is for “Woman Being Mansplained” which was actually satirical and also amusing.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and witty take on "old Masters". It was fascinating to look up the works that Ms. Kunz reimagined.

[Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of fun, would be better if you were more of an art fan and knew more of the painters that are remade as female. The pictures are entertaining. 3.5.