Previously On View
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800
Date
October 1, 2023 - January 7, 2024
Overview
Named a “must-see” exhibition by Vogue and a “sure-to-be-historic show” by The New York Times.
For centuries, women artists in Europe were considered rare and less talented than their male counterparts. Women who achieved professional artistic careers were deemed anomalous or exceptional, while those who engaged in creative pursuits in the home were dismissed as amateurs, and their works were categorized as material culture rather than art.
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800 aims to correct these broadly held but mistaken beliefs through more than 200 works of diverse media and scale. From royal portraits and devotional sculptures to embroidered objects, tapestries, costumes, wax sculptures, metalwork, ceramics, graphic arts, furniture, and more, Making Her Mark features objects from the 15th to 18th centuries that reflect the multifaceted and often overlooked ways that women contributed to the visual arts of Europe.
The exhibition’s focus on displaying exclusively objects made by women or toward which women contributed their labor distinguishes this project by putting women makers of all social levels in conversation with each other through their works.
Examples by artistic heroines such as Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, Luisa Roldán, Rosalba Carriera, Rachel Ruysch, and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun join exceptional products of female artisanal collectives and talented amateurs who operated outside of the male-dominated professional arena and often remained anonymous in the historical record. Further, sublime examples of ceramics, metalwork, and cabinetmaking from this era reflect women’s involvement in major manufactories and workshops.
BMA Members enjoy free admission. Learn more about BMA Membership.
Making Her Mark is free for all visitors on Thursday, November 9 and Sunday, December 3. Reserve free passes and view more related events.
See photos from the Members Preview Party and Art After Hours.
Low light protects fragile artworks in this exhibition. Please let your eyes adjust as you enter these darkened spaces.
Select Artworks in this Exhibition
Clara Peeters
A Still Life of Lilies, Roses, Iris, Pansies, Columbine, Love-in-a-Mist, Larkspur and Other Flowers in a Glass Vase on a Table Top, Flanked by a Rose and a Carnation
1610-01-01 00:00:00
Mary Beale
Portrait of a Woman with a Black Hood
1660-01-01 00:00:00
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Portrait of a Woman (Presumed Portrait of the Marquise de Lafayette)
Marguerite Gérard
Motherhood
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Princess Anna Alexandrovna Galitzin
1797-01-01 00:00:00
Geertruydt Roghman
The Dressmakers
Geertruydt Roghman
Young Girl Sewing
Geertruydt Roghman
Woman Spinning
Diana Mantuana
The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and St. John
Marguerite Gérard
Young Woman Embroidering
Bed Hangings
M.K. Herbert
Crewel Work Bed Curtain
1691-12-31 19:03:58
Archive Gallery Images
Sponsored By
Making Her Mark is co-organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Co-curated by Andaleeb Badiee Banta, Senior Curator and Department Head, Prints, Drawings & Photographs at the BMA, and Alexa Greist, Curator and R. Fraser Elliott Chair, Prints & Drawings at the AGO.
This exhibition is generously supported by The Alvin and Fanny B. Thalheimer Exhibition Endowment Fund, Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff, the Dorothy Wagner Wallis Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Anne L. Stone, Laura Freedlander, PNC Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York, Patricia and Mark Joseph, The Shelter Foundation, The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc Meadows, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Sheela Murthy/MurthyNAYAK Foundation, Susan B. Katzenberg, the Prints, Drawings & Photographs Society at the BMA, and Joseph and Rachel Rabinowitz.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Location
Special Exhibition Galleries
Special Exhibition Galleries
Catalogue
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800
For centuries, women artists in Europe were considered rare and less talented than their male counterparts. Women who achieved professional artistic careers were deemed anomalous or exceptional, while those who engaged in creative pursuits in the home were dismissed as amateurs, and their works were categorized as material culture rather than art.
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800 aims to correct these broadly held but mistaken beliefs through more than 200 works of diverse media and scale. From royal portraits and devotional sculptures to embroidered objects, tapestries, costumes, wax sculptures, metalwork, ceramics, graphic arts, furniture, and more, Making Her Mark will feature objects from the 15th to 18th centuries that reflect the multifaceted and often overlooked ways that women contributed to the visual arts of Europe.
Examples by artistic heroines such as Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, Luisa Roldán, Rosalba Carriera, Rachel Ruysch, and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun will join exceptional products of female artisanal collectives and talented amateurs who operated outside of the male-dominated professional arena and often remained anonymous in the historical record. Further, sublime examples of ceramics, metalwork, and cabinetmaking from this era will reflect women’s involvement in major manufactories and workshops.
Video
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800
Virtual Gallery Walk | Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800
Press
Press Contacts
Anne Brown
Baltimore Museum of Art
Senior Director of Communications
abrown@artbma.org
410-274-9907
Sarah Pedroni
Baltimore Museum of Art
Communications Manager
spedroni@artbma.org
410-428-4668
Alina Sumajin
PAVE Communications
alina@paveconsult.com
646-369-2050
Press Clippings
- WETA TV – Around Town Best Bet(01/12/2023
- Art Herstory – Reflections on Making Her Mark at the Baltimore Museum of Art (30/11/2023)
- Wall Street Journal – ‘Making Her Mark’ and ‘Remix: The Collection’ Review: Centuries of Creative Women (04/11/2023)
- Baltimore Sun – Baltimore Museum of Art exhibit argues that female artists in the Renaissance were equals to Raphael and Michelangelo (03/11/2023)
- WYPR-FM – On the Record with Sheila Kast – Get Schooled in Art History at BMA! (10/10/2023)
- Modern Vasari – Making Her Mark at the BMA(11/10/2023)
- Forbes – Baltimore Museum Of Art Exhibition Adds Much Needed Depth And Breadth To European Art History (04/10/2023)
- Art & Object – ‘Making Her Mark’ Explores Four Centuries of Groundbreaking Women Artists in Europe (03/10/2023)
Related Events
September 29 & September 30 | Member Preview Days
Saturday, September 30, 5:30 p.m. | Council Preview Talk & Reception
Saturday, September 30, 7:30 p.m. | Members Preview Party
Sunday, October 1, 1-5 p.m. | Community Day: Making Her Mark
Friday, October 13, 8-11 p.m. | Art After Hours
Thursday, November 9, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. | Free Admission
Thursday, November 9, 6-8:30 p.m. | Risk-Taking Women in the Arts: Tawny Chatmon & Myrtis Bedolla
Saturday, November 18, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. | Teacher Workshop: Making Her Mark
Sunday, December 3, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Free Admission
Wednesday, December 13, 6-8 p.m. | Corporate Council Night