The Story of Art Without Men

by Katy Hessel Narrated by Katy Hessel

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

In this long-awaited publication, we finally learn about the other half. Katy Hessel completely rewrites our understanding of art history, starting with Plautilla Nelli, the first known Florentine female Renaissance artist, through basically yesterday. This is a mind blowing, incredibly important and fantastic read.

The story of art as it's never been told before, from the Renaissance to the present day.



How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway?



Guided by Katy Hessel, art historian and founder of @thegreatwomenartists, discover the glittering paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, the radical work of Harriet Powers in the nineteenth-century United States, and the artist who really invented the "readymade." Explore the Dutch Golden Age, the astonishing work of postwar artists in Latin America, and the women defining art in the 2020s. Have your sense of art history overturned and your eyes opened to many artforms often ignored or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan, this is the history of art as it's never been told before.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Excellent, authoritative, exuberant, and elegantly written."— Simon Sebag Montefiore, on Twitter

"What Hessel achieves here is extraordinary . . . She covers a wide range of mediums (from silhouette papercutting to body art) and themes (including postcolonial narratives and queer pride). And though she keeps the focus on the women, she includes a few choice slurs by men as evidence of what these artists were—and are—up against . . . This [is a] spellbinding book."— Margot Mifflin Los Angeles Times

"[The Story of Art Without Men] should become a founding text in the history of art by women . . . Inspiring and indispensable."— Bidisha Mamta Guardian

"Sweeping . . . Part revisionist history, part coffee-table book, part collective portrait, part archival treasure hunt."— Tiana Reid New York Times

"A revelation and an important first step towards redressing the balance of an art world in which women have been sidelined."— Katy Thompsett Refinery29

"Katy Hessel presents art as you’ve never seen it before, with women in the spotlight—and without a Leonardo in sight."— Rachel Campbell-Johnston Times (London)

"There’s still some way to go until the gender imbalance is totally redressed, but The Story of Art Without Men, which describes how women achieved artistic excellence against colossal odds, has firmly cracked open the canon."— Chloë Ashby Spectator

"The Story of Art Without Men is an extraordinary achievement that will have a disruptive cultural legacy and help determine the landscape for years to come."— Helena Lee Harper’s Bazaar

"It’s a radical premise, rewriting history and upending the dominance men have held over so much of our culture. ([Hessel] includes sections on queer artists and artists of color, too.) Reading the book, I felt almost giddy as I reached each art-historical moment without the usual suspects mentioned."— Grace Edquist Vogue

"After reading The Story of Art Without Men, educators may aspire to redesign their art history surveys and syllabi—and trade some Picassos for Gegos."— Nageen Shaikh Hyperallergic

"An indispensable primer on the history of art, with an exclusive focus on women . . . A constructive, revelatory project . . . [and] an overdue upending of art historical discourse."— Kirkus (starred review)

"I’d urge you to pick up [this] book, which is an extraordinary eye-opener, and very readable . . . We badly need books like Hessel’s."— Hattie Crisell Evening Standard

"This book has blown my mind. Really passionately recommend."— India Knight Sunday Times

"Hessel’s clear love for the history of art shines. She . . . embarks on nuanced, poetic visual descriptions with reverence and excitement, as if discovering her subjects for the first time. . . . The Story of Art Without Men is an invitation to constantly rethink art history and continue to fill in the gaps."— Annabel Keenan Artillery

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2023-02-17
An indispensable primer on the history of art, with an exclusive focus on women.

Prominent 19th-century art critic John Ruskin once proclaimed, “the woman’s intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision,” and traces of this misguided and malignant sentiment can still be found over a century later in art institutions around the world. A 2019 study found that “in the collections of eighteen major US art museums, 87 percent of artworks were by men, and 85 percent by white artists.” There’s a lot to be mad about, but London-based art historian Hessel nimbly pivots that energy into a constructive, revelatory project. This book is not a mere rebuttal to the aforementioned discrimination; deftly researched, the text reveals an alternate history of centuries of artistic movements. With palpable excitement, the author shifts the focus from widely known male participants to the unsung female players of the time. Art aficionados will delight in Hessel’s sleight of hand and marvel at her wide, inclusive reach. Spanning from Baroque art to the present day, she effortlessly removes “the clamour of men” and, in a series of short biographical profiles, shapes a historical arc that still feels grounded even without a familiar male presence. Art history must “reset,” Hessel writes, and she positions her book as an important first step in that reconfiguration. While the author progresses mostly movement by movement, her broader tangents are particularly profound. One of many highlights is a generous overview of queer artists of the Weimar era. Hessel is occasionally uneven with how much content she allots each artist, and some perfunctory profiles feel like the result of trying to highlight as many names as possible. Nonetheless, even the shortest gloss provides enough intrigue to be a successful introduction to an artist who might otherwise be forgotten.

An overdue upending of art historical discourse.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178346518
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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