Celebrating Women Artists of the Past
Throughout history, women have created extraordinary art in the face of extraordinary obstacles. They were excluded from academies, denied life-drawing classes, dismissed by critics, and overlooked by collectors. And yet, they created — and their work endures.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c.1656)
The first woman admitted to the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts, Artemisia painted with a power and psychological intensity that was radical in her time. Her depictions of biblical heroines — Judith, Susannah, Bathsheba — were unlike anything her male contemporaries produced.
Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)
A central figure of the French Impressionist movement and the first woman to exhibit with the Impressionists, Morisot’s luminous paintings of domestic life are among the finest of the era — though she spent decades in the shadow of her male peers.
Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975)
One of Britain’s greatest sculptors, Hepworth transformed the language of abstract form. Her work is in permanent collections worldwide, and her studio in St Ives remains a pilgrimage site for artists.
Why We Look Back
We celebrate these women not as exceptions, but as evidence of what has always been possible — and of how much has been lost when talent goes unrecognised. The Women in Art Prize exists to ensure that today’s female artists are seen in their own time.