About What's On
Frida Kahlo Loïs Mailou Jones Leonora Carrington Tamara de Lempicka Aretha Franklin Billie Holiday
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Women Artists

Loïs Mailo Jones
One of the most notable figures to attain fame for her art while living as a black expatriate in Paris during the 1930s-40s.

Leonora Carrington
A British-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist.

Tamara de Lempicka
A Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States.

Frida Kahlo
One of the most influencial artists of the century, known for their self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature of Mexico.

Aretha Franklin
"Queen of Soul", has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Billie Holiday
An innovative influence on jazz music, their vocal style pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.



Why Women Artists?

In an era when painting, portraiture and the female artist are still regularly dismissed or marginalised, only one in four of this year's Turner prize nominees are women and none of them work in portraiture or painting, while only 5% of commercial London galleries show an equal number of male and female artists.

The truth is that women have never been treated equally in the art world, and today they remain dramatically underrepresented and undervalued in museums, galleries, and auction houses. Counting and quantifying would not solve discrimination, but statistics are useful for understanding the scope of the problem. As NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling says, “People in the art world want to think we are achieving parity more quickly than we are.” With this website we are hoping to amplify and cherish the works of some of the greatest female artists.

Find more information on our About page.