"Many still assume that a woman artist was exceptional in the 17th century, but we have on view more than 40 women who made beautiful, high-quality art. So I hope this narrative can end now. These women, who worked in Belgium and the Netherlands between 1600 and 1750, saw art not as pastime but as a profession. As evidenced by contemporary biographies on view at MSK, they were well-regarded, even famous, in their day."
"What is immediately striking about "Unforgettable" is the diversity of paths that women took to pursue their artistic ambitions. Whether single or married, rich or poor, a painter, a sculptor, or a paper cutter, each woman's success was determined by a unique mix of circumstance and strategy. Over the centuries since, their names had fallen into obscurity. It has taken decades of dedicated research to finally rescue these women's stories from the archive."
The canon of celebrated Flemish Old Masters has recently expanded to include women artists like Rachel Ruysch and Judith Leyster, yet these represent only a fraction of female creative practitioners. A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, titled "Unforgettable," showcases more than 40 women who worked between 1600 and 1750 as professional artists rather than hobbyists. These women—painters, sculptors, and paper cutters—were well-regarded and even famous during their lifetimes, working across various social classes. Their paths to artistic success varied based on unique combinations of circumstance and strategy. Over centuries, their names and contributions disappeared from historical records, requiring decades of archival research to recover their stories and challenge the persistent assumption that women artists were exceptional anomalies in the 17th century.
#women-artists #17th-century-flemish-art #art-history-recovery #professional-female-creators #museum-exhibition
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