The Short Story of Women Artists: A Pocket Guide to Key Breakthroughs, Movements, Works and Themes

by Susie Hodge

The Short Story of Women Artists tells the full history – from the breakthroughs that women have made in pushing for parity with male artists, to the important contributions made to otherwise male-dominated artistic movements, and the forgotten and obscured artists who are now being rediscovered and reassessed.

Accessible, concise and richly illustrated, the book reveals the connections between different periods, artists and styles, giving readers a thorough understanding and broad enjoyment of the full achievements that female artists have made.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Feminism, History, Art History, Biography, Womens

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[La pecera de Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desde que comencé la iniciativa de #mujeresdeepoca que consiste en leer una biografía de una mujer al mes, me llaman más la atención los libros en los que se habla de mujeres artistas, escritoras, investigadoras, etc… desconocidas. He descubierto mujeres extraordinarias, de muchas de ellas no hay biografías y otras no están traducidas al español, una pena.
Cuando vi que Babelio a través de su programa masa critica ofrecía el libro “Breve Historia de Las Mujeres Artistas” de Hodge Susie publicado por la editorial Blume supe que tenía que tenerlo en mi poder sí o sí.
Este libro hace un recorrido por los movimientos artísticos en las historia, pero con las obras de las mujeres, descubriéndonos artistas ocultas en la historia. Es una guía breve de estos movimientos, sus características, las mujeres que pertenecen a cada época, sus estilos y sus obras, escrito de una forma sencilla, concisa, breve y muy visual, ya que toda la guía es ilustrada, editada de una manera bellísima. Tiene una estructura lineal en el tiempo pero muy original, por ello el libro consta de Introducción , Cómo usar este libro, Movimientos, Obras, Transformaciones, Temas. Muy interesantes, curioso, didáctico y ameno.
Ha sido uno de los mejores descubrimientos de libros sobre arte que he tenido últimamente.
Si te gusta el arte, no puedes perderte este libro porque la historia no está completa sin conocerlas a ellas.
Muchísimas gracias a Babelio y a Blume por la colaboración.

[Nageen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be renamed as short history of mostly western women artists.

Hodge includes Mona Hatoum and Amrita Shergil but theres no Shirin Neshat, Shahzia Sikander or Mrinalini Mukherjee. These are discourse bending artists. Seriously??

Great layout and feel to the book.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's refreshing to read art history from the view of women artists! I definitely got to know a number of interesting artists that I had not heard of before, and also some ideas for where to place the ones I do know in a larger artist historic canon.
It needs to be said though that this is a re-writing of Western art history, with mostly Western women artists. There are only a few non-Western artists named and then only in more recent years. It would be interesting to learn more about women artists in other regions of the world throughout history - though that might be a whole new book.

[Lien · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Nice overview/ introduction.
Sometimes a bit reductive, especially in the first chapter (e.g. not mentioning colonialism re the Dutch Golden age, saying women were ‘naturally adept’ at the art nouveau style’, using the word ‘females’…’).
Overall very Euro-/ U.S.-centric.

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Very good introduction into women artists, and womens art and art history. By explaining the art movements and how they are different, and or, similar to each other helps give this book depth. I like the wide variety of artistic talent presented i this book, by female artists well-known and not so well-known. If you are not already interested in art or women artists, this will inspire you to learn more. The books formatting made it easy to read and find information. I do think, rather than the page length critique of the art, they could have instead included more about the lives and what may have influenced them to this style, or more local women artists.
Highly recommended.

[lisa ೃ࿐ · Rating 4 out of 5]

so refreshing to read a book 100% FEMALE gaze !!

in 220 pages, Hodge introduces us to the (almost) unknown universe of women artists, from the Renaissance to our 21th century through 60 masterpieces (and more actually!).

would’ve been even greater if there were less european artists and more african, oceanian and asian ones !!

[Naz Güngen · Rating 3 out of 5]

keyifli bir kitaptı ama biraz fazla yüzeyseldi. örneğin, kapakta eseri bulunan tamara de lempicka'nın bir adet eseri dahi incelenmemişti. (sadece art deco akımında minicik bir paragrafta ismi geçiyor mesela.) bu kitap tabii ki 101 niteliğinde bir eser, ama yine de daha detaylı olabilirdi diye düşünüyorum. her şeye rağmen daha önceden bilmediğim bazı sanatçılar ve eserler keşfetmemi sağladı bu kitap, dolayısıyla okuduğum için memnunum.

[thaís bambozzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

apesar de ser um guia bem resumido de referências de mulheres nas artes e com pouca profundidade, achei bem organizado e traz nomes novos para mim (que já pesquiso o tema há anos!) daria três estrelas, mas vou dar quatro porque acho que vai ser um livro bem útil na minha rotina de estudos.

[Ju · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hyper interessant, les femmes devrais + avoir leurs place dans se monde

[annina · Rating 4 out of 5]

really accessible insight into forgotten parts of art history and contemporary work. only thing missing is that it barely features non western/european artists.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very informative and fascinating. Although I knew a some of the artists within this book, it also introduced me to a plethora of woman artists I was unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the structure of the book, how it focused on broader period coverage, then artists, then themes while tying all together. I also appreciated the images of the works that were being spoken about with more detailed highlights for certain works. Overall, not a tough read nor long, but informative nonetheless.

[Natalia · Rating 1 out of 5]

nie no, straszny kasztan. straszliwy!!!!111!!111!
to jest książka do przejrzenia na takim samym
poziomie wyjebania jak się przegląda magazyn w poczekalni u dentysty. wszystko opisane po łebkach, niespójnie, brak selekcji na to co istotne, a co nie = no kasztan

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but it could've had a larger variety in movements instead of primarily European movements. It was also a bit repetitive.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for Christmas and it was a nice gift. It’s a short read and well-organised, although the last section – ‘Themes’ – was perhaps a bit repetitive and unnecessary. I’m not sure it’s valid to attempt to divide all women artists up by theme. It might have been better to address recurring themes in certain time periods and why they existed – Mary Cassatt painting so many saccharine mom-and-baby paintings because she wasn’t allowed more interesting subject matter, for instance. That being said, I learned about artists I hadn’t heard of before, and more about artists I’d briefly encountered. A useful and necessary compilation.

Some fun facts:

A cult grew around Elizabeth Sirani because they thought that she was the reincarnation of Guido Reni. Love it!

In her lifetime, Rachel Ruysch earned more for her still-lifes (derived from the Dutch word stilleven) than Rembrandt. Obviously not any more, but arguably that was more useful to her in her lifetime.

Hilma af Klint was doing abstraction years before Kandisky and Mondrian, but she wouldn’t allow her paintings to be exhibited until 20 years after her death.

‘I thought beforehand that to be provocative, you had to attack religion or generals. I realised that there was nothing more shocking than joy.’ Niki de Saint Phalle. I LOVE this.

[Noemi Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro que he amado y que se va a mi top de mejores lecturas del año.

Arte e historia se entremezclan en sus páginas para conocer la vida de esas mujeres que se negaron a dejar ir sus sueños. Historias injustas y reivindicativas que descubriremos a través de las obras que dejaron a la posterioridad.
Su lectura es sencilla poniendo el foco en los aspectos más interesantes y dejando de lado complejos análisis formales para que todo tipo de público pueda disfrutarlo. Además, posee una estructura variada que nos permite leer varias obras o saltar de un tema a otro sin problemas, todo muy bien señalado para saber la época y el estilo del cuadro.

En definitiva, si queréis conocer las obras de las mujeres artistas, muchas de ellas olvidadas a lo largo del tiempo y aprender sobre arte este es vuestro libro.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didn‘t like how it was structured that lead to the fact that it was kinda hard to read cause author put all important dates, artists, movements in too compressed a text (i know the book called „short history“, but it’s hardly an easy read…) i learned something new tho so as an introduction and not main book it’s okay

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super práctico como primer acercamiento a la parte borrada de la historia del arte. No me convence del todo la división en Movimientos, Obras y Temas pero eso es algo ya muy de gustos. El contenido está muy bien. Eso sí, como digo es para un primer acercamiento o manual de consulta muy básico, no profundiza en nada.

[Mariana Sarmiento · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las formas innovadoras de contar la historia se vuelven refrescantes. Es una hermosa edición que nos presenta la historia de mujeres poderosas que nos precedieron y abrieron los caminos que hoy nos pertenecen.

Recomendado para quienes admiran la revolución y la belleza de las obras relevantes de la Historia del Arte con mayúscula.

[Mariana Ponce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Efectivamente es una "guía de bolsillo" bien lograda aunque deja fuera a muchas artistas no occidentales. También me hizo falta una conclusión que pudo haber sido colaborativa con otras mujeres artistas para variar un poco con el tono wikipédico de la autora.
Aún así me parece un esfuerzo valioso y me ha gustado mucho.
3.5 estrellas.

[Ada]

***zaterdag 31 december 2022***
Bought this at the gift shop of the Tate Modern in London

Worthy to note that this book is mainly about western artists and the 'accepted' forms of art.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup aimé, ce livre est très instructif on peut découvrir de nombreux mouvements artistiques et d'œuvres réalisés par des femmes artistes. Le livre est très bien documenté et très bien illustré, il est clair et renseigne vraiment bien sur le sujet, je le recommande vraiment.

[Laurence Theriault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très bon récapitulatif des femmes artistes à connaître ou déjà connu. Très inspirant pour les féministes.

[delly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
This is annoyingly repetitive, you just get the same 5 facts repeated to you over and over again.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely about European artists and could have gained from exploring outside of that

[Ellä · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Ly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Całkiem wybiórczy twór skierowany bardziej do osób świeżo ciekawych sztuki i chcących poznać te najbardziej rozpoznawalne nazwiska kobiece

[Amarine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done non-exhaustive but rich list of wonderful female artists through history and continents.

[marieostin · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star for calling all Ukrainian female artists Russian

[Amy in the Desert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of women artists.

[Noëmie N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un livre qui m'a fait m'interroger et surtout réaliser le manque d'exposition auquel les femmes artistes sont confrontées. Je ferai plus attention à cela la prochaine fois que je vais dans un musée.