Women have created art across cultures and throughout history. The Baltimore Museum of Art is home to works by more than 1,000 artists who are known or believed to identify as women. Even this number likely underrepresents women’s artistic contributions.
For centuries, many women faced barriers to education, professional training, and exhibition opportunities. Laws and social restrictions often limited access to studios, markets, and recognition. As a result, women artists were frequently overlooked or excluded from traditional art historical narratives.
The BMA continues working to address these gaps by researching and identifying women artists in its collection. These identifications are based on archival sources, published scholarship, and communication with artists or their families.
The works shown here highlight the global diversity of women’s artistic practices and recognize the many ways women artists have shaped art history.
