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pioneering women

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Anni Albers

Thursday, June 12, 2025 | Karl Cole

Anni Albers is notable as one of the class of Bauhaus fiber artists who helped elevate weaving and other fiber disciplines to the status of fine art in Western art. After moving to the United States, ...

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Curator's Corner

Pioneering Photographer: Frances Benjamin Johnston

Monday, June 9, 2025 | Karl Cole

It’s high time we celebrate the art of photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston. She is considered by most art historians to have been the first “press photographer,” photographing fam ...

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Curator's Corner

National Cheese Day: Clara Peeters

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | Karl Cole

Although little is known about her upbringing or training, Peeters was one of a growing number of women artists who were widely acclaimed as professional artists. She was also a pioneer in the relativ ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Liubov Popova

Thursday, April 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

Liubov Popova was one of the many women artists active in the avant garde art during the period of the Russian Revolution (1917). Not only did she experiment in all of the most recent modernist styles ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Elizabeth Catlett

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | Karl Cole

Elizabeth Catlett’s body of work as an artist was predominantly intended to connect with and honor achievements of African Americans, particularly women. Her works about women such as this army ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month: Janet Sobel

Monday, March 31, 2025 | Karl Cole

It is not often that we discover an artist whose work may have had a major impact on the direction of American art. But Janet Sobel is one such artist. You think Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month: Maria Sibylla Merian

Monday, March 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

Few artists in history have distinguished themselves both as artists and scientists, but Maria Sibylla Merian holds that distinction. She is considered one of the most important scientists/entomologis ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month: Rosa Bonheur

Monday, March 10, 2025 | Karl Cole

Having previously featured French artist Rosa Bonheur in my Importance of Portraits series, I felt it was high time to bring up the importance of her art in the history of women artists. She was a reb ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month: Gertrude Greene

Monday, March 3, 2025 | Karl Cole

Among the many women artists who deserve recognition in the history of art, Gertrude Greene is certainly toward the top of my list. She was a standup, persistent modernist during the difficult economi ...

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Curator's Corner

National Jewish Heritage Month: Miriam Schapiro

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | Karl Cole

Miriam Schapiro was a pioneer of the Feminist Art Movement in the 1970s. Her renowned “femmage” works helped lay the groundwork for the Pattern and Decoration movement. ...

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Curator's Corner

LGBTQI+ History Month: Harriet Hosmer

Monday, October 18, 2021 | Karl Cole

Before the 1900s, it was hard enough trying to become a professional artist as a woman. It was even more difficult finding acceptance if one was gay. Harriet Hosmer managed to overcome both of those b ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Sofonisba Anguissola

Monday, March 8, 2021 | Karl Cole

Although there are records of women artists from antiquity, women artists between the 1400s and 1700s in the West were either considered anomalies or miracles. The advent of artists' guilds during the ...

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Curator's Corner

More of the Legacy: Sarah Josepha Hale

Monday, December 3, 2012 | Karl Cole

Working with new images is so awesome, because I learn something new every few days. Before I added these images from Godey’s Lady’s Book to our collection from the American Antiquari ...

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