'Abstract Expressionists: The Women' Rewrites a Male-Dominated Canon

"In 2024, art collector Christian Levett opened Europe's first museum dedicated to women artists in a little town in the south of France. But for those of us who can't make the trip to the Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum, or FAMM), the American Federation of the Arts (AFA) has arranged the next best thing: a blockbuster touring exhibition about women artists of the Abstract Expressionist movement, featuring some of the highlights of the FAMM collection."

""Abstract Expressionists: The Women" is currently on view at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Featuring close to 50 works by 32 artists, ranging from the late 1930s to 1977, the exhibition showcases the full arc of the Abstract Expressionist movement. It makes the case that women played a pivotal role in this influential period of art history, working alongside their more celebrated male peers, and just as creative and groundbreaking."

"The show includes artists whose stars have been in ascendancy in recent years, such as Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Lee Krasner-but also artists you might not associate with Abstract Expressionism, such as Miriam Schapiro and Audrey Flack, who went on to become better known for their contributions to the Pattern and Decoration and Realism movements, respectively. Other names are still relatively obscure, like West Coast painters Ruth Armer and Emiko Nakano."

Christian Levett opened Europe's first museum dedicated to women artists in Mougins in 2024. The American Federation of the Arts organized a blockbuster touring exhibition that brings highlights from the Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins (FAMM) to U.S. venues. "Abstract Expressionists: The Women" presents close to 50 works by 32 artists dating from the late 1930s to 1977 and traces the full arc of the Abstract Expressionist movement. The exhibition contends that women played pivotal roles alongside male peers and produced equally creative, groundbreaking work. The show includes celebrated names like Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Lee Krasner, alongside artists who later joined other movements and more obscure regional painters.

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