Women, Masters, Artists: 1300–1900

The exhibition will showcase the artistic work of women, from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century.

The exhibition will present the artistic work of women from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century, showcasing the distinctive nature of female creation, particularly in painting, sculpture, drawing, and graphics, as well as in the field of applied arts, revealing a second, lesser-known story of art history. Attention will be focused on the characteristics of the environment in which female artists created; it will also highlight the themes that women explored in their works. For the first time, a comprehensive showcase of women artists who worked in Central Europe, the Netherlands, and present-day Italy between 1300 and 1900 will be visible. The exhibition is temporally set in this period because it was then that the situation of women artists began to change: gradually, they were allowed access to art academies, and women from cities, in addition to aristocrats, began to engage in art. Thus, female artists increasingly had their opportunities in their own hands and gradually began to establish themselves both professionally and socially. However, very few led workshops like their male counterparts. The theme of the exhibition will emphasize the message: gender does influence the character of creation and until recently significantly limited women's opportunities for assertion and education, but talent and the will to succeed in a previously male-dominated world are what truly matter. For some, it will be surprising to see how, as early as the Middle Ages, women's bold imagination was expressed; what deeply devout women, often nuns, had in terms of erotic and maternal desires. Visitors will also be intrigued by the stories of female painters from the Renaissance period – they were often victims of violence and intrigue themselves; they dealt with the cruelty they experienced in their artistic work. Many of them sought to match the output of their male counterparts, wanting to prove that they were just as good, or even better. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many capable women emerged in the Alps and became successful scientists, painters, and travelers. The story of Maria Sibylla Merian, who undertook an adventurous expedition to Suriname in 1699 to study insects, is particularly inspiring. In the late 18th century and the early decades of the 19th century, a number of prominent female painters emerged – Angelica Kauffmann, Barbara Krafft born Steiner, and Amalie von Peter. Their paths were then followed by other artists. Thanks to talent, family support, and education, they were able to fully devote themselves to professional artistic creation, which brought them self-realization, respect, and recognition.