Women Artists: Works from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Beautifully designed and illustrated, Women Artists: Works from the National Museum of Women in the Arts features eighty-six notable women artists who have helped shape the world of art for the past five hundred years, from the Renaissance to the present. Written by the art historian Nancy G. Heller and showcasing the most noteworthy artists and key holdings of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., Women Artists authoritatively records the history of women in art.

Among the artists featured are the Italian Renaissance painter Lavinia Fontanta, considered Western Europe's first professional woman artist; the eighteenth-century silversmith Louisa Courtauld of England, one of the most important women of her time in the silver trade; modern-day artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Elizabeth Catlett, and Nan Goldin; and other legendary artists, including Berenice Abbott, Mary Cassatt, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Helen Frankenthaler, Frida Kahlo, Lee Krasner, María Montoya Martínez, and Georgia O'Keeffe, among many others. Artists' books from the collection are featured in a special section.

Women Artists presents the artists and their works in eight sections representing chronological and regional groupings. Each section opens with an introductory essay that places the works in a historical context, providing a general overview of the social and political forces that shaped the era and region in which the works were created. In addition to illustrating the artists' works in full color, Women Artists provides a portrait of each artist, a brief biographical entry, and a discussion of her work. Included is a complete listing of the artists whose works constitute the museum's 2,600 holdings.

Nancy G. Heller, Ph.D., is a professor of humanities at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and an art historian whose work focuses on women's art. The recipient of several awards and honors, she is the author of Women Artists: An Illustrated History, which has been published in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France. She lives in Philadelphia.

Founded in 1981, the National Museum of Women in the Arts acknowledges and celebrates women's diverse artistic achievements over the centuries. The museum was established to challenge traditional histories of art, to uncover the works of women artists who have been overlooked and unacknowledged, and to ensure the place of women in contemporary art. Since 1987, when the museum opened in downtown Washington, D.C., it has presented more than 140 exhibitions of art made by women. The permanent collection contains approximately 2,600 works from the sixteenth century to the present created by almost seven hundred artists.

The women's museum also offers extensive education programs in the visual arts, literature, music, and film. To foster recognition of women artists in their home states, the museum has established state committees that sponsor events and organize exhibitions in local museums and art galleries. Since 1984 nearly two hundred thousand people have joined as members to support the museum and its mission, and nearly one million visited during its first decade. For more information visit www.nwma.org.