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How many female artists do you know on the top of your mind?

This is a question that even makes some art enthusiasts scramble to answer and one that the author of The Story of Art without Men, Katy Hessel, set about to answer for her readership.

The book is a homage as well as a demur to the widely regarded introductory text to art history, The Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich. The Story of Art surveys art history from the Renaissance to the Modern Art movement, mentioning only two female artists.

Hessel decided to unveil the stories of female artists throughout history, centering accomplished female artists, and the socioeconomic battles that they overcame in their times. The book elaborated on the tales behind over 300 artworks from the Renaissance to the present day, and more importantly, all from a female perspective.

Hessel included categories such as textiles that were traditionally accessible for women but overlooked as a form of fine arts, and contemporary movements that played a significant role in fighting for equality for women artists and other marginalized identities in the art world, to restore a fuller picture of art history under the lenses of a non-white male.

In collaboration with the publisher W. W. Norton, .ART will be giving away 5 copies of The Story of Art without Men. Visit our Instagram account @artdomains to participate in the giveaway. The winners will be announced on August 5, Saturday.

About the Author

Katy Hessel is an art historian, broadcaster, and curator dedicated to celebrating women artists from all over the world. She runs @thegreatwomenartists Instagram and The Great Women Artists Podcast, where she has interviewed the likes of Tracey Emin, Marina Abramovic, and authors Ali Smith and Deborah Levy. Katy has lectured at Tate and National Gallery, presented films for the BBC, and is a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. She is a columnist for the Guardian, and the author of The Story of Art without Men – a Sunday Times Bestseller and winner of Waterstones Book of the Year 2022.

.ART Book Club

.ART Book Club is an online program that shares the latest art publications and facilitates conversations with the author, giving a glimpse into their creative process. .ART Team believes that art can act as an agent of change or thinking creatively can make us see alternatives and possibilities. Reading and exchanging is a way to connect that can lead to the nourishment of the soul. As we are emerging from a year of social tension and isolation, where we were mainly tied via screen, it is time to engage in new ways of seeing. Comments on our social media to let us know what you would like to read next.