Legendary Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism

When most people think of the Impressionist movement the artists who may immediately come to mind are Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro and Sisley. However, there were also extraordinary women artists who created art in that style.

This presentation features five of them: Berthe Morisot, Anna Ancher, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès and Paula Modersohn-Becker.

In our efforts to applaud the artistic contributions of women artists, Manhattan Arts International has published many articles about women artists, from art history to present day. We have also been presenting “HerStory” exhibitions since the year 2000 that feature the art by contemporary  women artists.  We will continue until equality in the art world is achieved. 

Enjoy reading this article. You may also want to read “How Well Do You Know Famous Women Artists?”

Berthe Morisot, 1841 – 1895

Berthe Morisot. The Cradle, In French: “Mme Pontillon et sa fille Blanche”, oil on canvas, 46″ x 56″. Photo: Public Domain.

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.

In 1864, she exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Salon de Paris, listed as a student of Joseph Guichard and Achille-Francois Oudinot. Her work was selected for exhibition in six subsequent Salons until, in 1874, she joined the “rejected” Impressionists in the first of their own exhibitions (15 April – 15 May 1874), which included Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. It was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar. Morisot went on to participate in all but one of the following eight impressionist exhibitions, between 1874 and 1886.

She wrote, “I do not think any man would ever treat a woman as his equal, and it is all I ask because I know my worth.”

Anna Ancher, 1826 -1916

Anna Ancher studied drawing for three years at the Vilhelm Kyhn College of Painting in Copenhagen. However, she developed her own style and was a pioneer in observing the interplay of different colors in natural light. She also studied drawing in Paris at the atelier of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Ancher preferred to paint interiors and simple themes from the everyday lives of the Skagen people, especially fishermen, women, and children. She was intensely preoccupied with exploring light and color.

Mary Cassatt, May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926

Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh’s North Side), but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

She was described by Gustave Geffroy as one of “les trois grandes dames” (the three great ladies) of Impressionism.

She wrote, “I have touched with a sense of art some people-they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?”

 Eva Gonzalès,  April 19, 1849—May 6, 1883

Eva Gonzalès is one of the few women known to have been associated with the Impressionists artists; however, she never exhibited with them, opting instead for the more official alternative of the Salon, much like her teacher Édouard Manet (1832-1883). She was born into a middle-class family of Spanish and Monégasque origin. Her father, Emmanuel Gonzalès, was a writer, and her mother, Marie-Céline Ragut, was a musician.

Paula Modersohn-Becker, February 8, 1876 – November 20, 1907

Paula Modersohn-Becker was a German Expressionist painter and draftswoman of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  She was one of the artists featured in The Speed Art Museum’s “Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism”, in 2018,

She produced more than 700 paintings and over 1000 drawings during her active painting life. She is recognized both as the first known woman painter to paint nude self-portraits, and the first woman to have a museum devoted exclusively to her art (the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, founded 1927). Additionally, she is noted for the many self-portraits, including nudes.she is believed to be the first woman artist to depict herself pregnant.

She is mostly considered one of the most important representatives of early expressionism.

“Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism” Exhibition

The Speed Art Museum, located in Louisville, Kentucky presented a special traveling exhibition, “Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism”, in 2018. It was organized by the American Federation of Arts and featured over 80 exceptional paintings by 37 women artists from 13 countries. Drawn from prominent collections across the United States and abroad, this extraordinary exhibition showcased renowned artists including, Berthe Morisot (French), Mary Cassatt (American) and Rosa Bonheur (French), alongside lesser-known, but equally important peers including Anna Ancher (Danish), Lilla Cabot Perry (American) and Paula Modersohn-Becker (German).

The exhibition was curated by Laurence Madeline, Chief Curator for French National Heritage and  celebrates the achievements of women artists working in late nineteenth century Paris, a vibrant cultural center where they found rich opportunities despite their restricted access to a male-dominated art world.

“This exhibition examines an important chapter in art history when an international group of women artists overcame gender-based restrictions to build careers for themselves,” stated Erika Holmquist-Wall, Chief Curator, Speed Art Museum, and Mary and Barry Bingham, Sr. Curator of European and American Paintings and Sculpture.

 

For more information about the Manhattan Arts International “HerStory”, an online exhibition of women artists, visit our Exhibitions page.

You may also want to read “How Well Do You Know Famous Women Artists?”