Women’s History

These stories illuminate the cultural contributions women have made throughout the history of art.

Printed graphic image of a white woman seductively holding a poppy flower. The Woman and the peony are an orange color and the background of the image is black and the woman's dress and hat are created just using orange outlines.

By Women, for Women: American Art Posters of the 1890s

How did women emerge as active creators of art and visual culture in the nineteenth century?

Named Jordan's “Musical Ambassadress,” Farah Siraj’s unique idiom melds influences from Arabian music, flamenco, and jazz.

Founded in 2011, Alsarah & the Nubatones have dubbed their sound “East African retro-pop.”

Allison Rudnick and Katy Hessel speak in front of of the print artwork "Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met Museum?" by the Guerrilla Girls.

Museums Without Men: Guerrilla Girls

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Detail of Marie Denise Villers’s portrait of a young woman artist seated and sketching at her easel.

Museums Without Men: Marie Denise Villers

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Detail of Firelei Báez’s painting of woman figure camouflaged in an expanse of dense shaggy textures and colors.

Museums Without Men: Firelei Báez

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Emel Mathlouthi's viral anthem of the Arab Spring earned her the title “voice of the Tunisian revolution.”

A female figure in a black burqa is set in a white space. Text in red reads "Masaawi Haqooq" in Urdu script.

Representing the Female Body

Take a closer look at two feminist artworks from the 1980s
by Lala Rukh and the Guerrilla Girls.
Detail of Leonora Carrington’s self-portrait of her sporting white jodhpurs and a wild mane of hair; she’s perched on the edge of a chair with her hand outstretched toward the prancing hyena and her back to two horses: a tailless white rocking horse flying behind her and a galloping white horse visible in a curtained window.

Museums Without Men: Leonora Carrington

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Detail of Mary Cassatt’s painting of a young mother sewing with a child resting on her lap; the room has a vase of vibrant flowers and a bay of windows overlooking a green wooded area.

Museums Without Men: Mary Cassatt

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