Women Artists: An Illustrated History

By Nancy G. Heller and Nancy Heller

Book Overview

In this fifth edition of her best-selling survey, Nancy Heller incorporates the most recent discoveries about the women artists of the past--and carries the story forward into the twenty-first century, with the evocative, sometimes provocative work of artists like Pilar Albarrac n, Liza Lou, and Julie Mehretu.

This abundantly illustrated volume chronicles five centuries of women painters and sculptors, from Sofonisba Anguissola to Wendy Red Star. Nancy Heller's text looks unflinchingly at the obstacles that women encountered, such as restricted access to education and apprenticeship, social pressures to marry and mother, and limited opportunities to travel and exhibit. But, at the same time, she emphasizes the ingenious ways in which generations of women artists circumvented these obstacles to establish themselves as well-respected professionals. Though some of the artists in this book did not receive their due until centuries after their death, many, such as Lavinia Fontana and Elisabeth Vig e-Lebrun, achieved local or even international fame in their lifetimes.

Featuring over more than two hundred reproductions--all in full color--as well as portraits of the artists themselves, Women Artists is an indispensable addition to every bookshelf devoted to art history or women's studies

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078921525X
• ISBN13: 9780789215253
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Length: 324 Pages

Customer Reviews

Great first art book!

This is the first art book I ever read and really enjoyed it. The book includes sort of mini-bios of each artist with descriptions of her artwork and one representative illustration. I noticed details of each artists' work that I probably would not have noticed on my own, and the book made me want to look up a number of the artists in order to see the rest of their works - and to me, this is indicative of a good book - one they leads you on to want to know more!

Encyclopaedia of Women Artists

I wanted a encyclopaedia like of women artists and this comes close to it. It is not all inclusive but it has a good number of entries, including the well known ones and the not so well known. I wish it had had more international women artists. I like the fact that it had good color illustrations. I am glad it is included in my art library. It is a good bargain for the price. This is a reference book.

Very good

This book is an excellent introduction to women artists throughtout the ages. I discovered some I had never heard of before and as a result bought other books to learn more. The only regrets I have is that it omitted some very interesting painters, like Tamara de Lempicka, and the section on contemporary artists was too heavy on US artists. Otherwise excellent with great illustrations.