I wish I had known then what I know now : there have always been female artists who were at least as talented as these men, but we just never learned about them.

Fanny Hensel, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Maria Anna Mozart, Mozart’s sister, Camille Claudel (muse of Rodin), Colette, Margaret Kean of Big Eye fame, as well as George Sand and George Elliot and many, many other women who were accomplished artists. But their gender prevented them from claiming or even exercising their art. The American author Siri Hustvedt has dedicated an entire novel to the role and perception of women in the arts.¹

The exhibition Unforgettable in Ghent introduces us to the many accomplished female visual artists who were part of the thriving world of art in the Low Countries, particularly Antwerp and Amsterdam, in the ’long 17th century’ between 1600 and 1750. The curator of this exhibition, Frederica van Dam, explained to us that these women may have been forgotten for a long time, but they are unforgettable !

The 40 artists exhibited include the painter, Judith Leyster. Until recently some of her paintings were misattributed to Frans Hals. There is Maria van Oosterwijk, a contemporary of Vermeer, but at the time more famous and successful than he was : she sold her paintings to courts all over Europe, including the Medici in Florence. Maria Sybilla Merian travelled the world to produce hand-coloured engravings of foreign flora. Maria Feydherbe produced sculptures in Mechelen, which she dared to sign, much to the chagrin of her male competitors. Rachel Ruysch was a specialist in flower painting, a particularly lucrative specialisation, not only reserved to women. She remained active well into her eighties and spent some time in the prestigious position as the court painter to Johan Wilhelm, elector of Palatine and Bavaria in Düsseldorf. Caroline Peeters was rediscovered by Wilhelmina Cole Holladay. The latter loved and eventually purchased a beautiful still life by Peeters, which can be admired in the exhibition. The Peeters painting was the first piece in the Holladay Collection which became the basis for the National Museum for Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington. This private museum was founded by Wilhelmina to showcase women artists.

The exhibition Unforgettable is a cooperation between the NMWA and the MSK. Frederica van Dam clarified that the exhibition has the express purpose of showing us the high-quality art produced by women artists and that female artists were not an exception but were an undeniable part of the art world, whether as artists, customers or merchants.

The dominant male viewpoint, and there Frederica referred in particular to the nearly exclusively male art critics of the 19th century, wrote these women out of history, moved their works into museum cellars or attributed their art to male artists. Art, such as lace making and paper cutting, at the time more highly valued than paintings, was relegated to a mere craft.

This period was, however, not a time of equality for women. Even though women were allowed to join the guilds and were free in the choice of their subject, except for male nudes, they were able to produce their art only while facing considerable constraints due to their gender. These constraints were metaphorically illustrated by a quote popularised by former Texas Governor Ann Richards, "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and on high heels."

The social constraints for women artists were considerable as they were raised to fulfill their roles as wives and mothers. Those constraints manifested differently according to the women’s social class. Rich and high-born women often did have the time to paint and had access to education, but social conventions prevented them from entering the market. Female artists of the middle classes were expected to contribute their art to the family business and publish their work under the brand name of the male head of the studio. Only those with no living male relatives could sell their work under their own, often married, name. Women of the lower classes, particularly in orphanages, were trained as lacemakers. With their anonymous art, which was extremely highly priced as an export article, they provided the backbone to the economy of the Low Countries.

The seven rooms of the exhibition each cover a different subject relevant to the art and the lives of female artists. These include the ’Identity’ of the artists with self-portraits, their technical skills as well as their economic competence in ’Tradition and Ambition’. ’Family Ties’ with ’Social Expectations’ are showcased, as well as the ’Local’ and ’Global Networks’ in which women participated. The exhibition concludes with ’Value, Memory and Legacy’, dealing with the forgetfulness of history where women are concerned.

This summary of the inspiring presentation by Frederica can only give a taste of the exhibition and the many beautiful and skilfull artworks we have seen on the slides. You will have to go and see for yourself. The exhibition is still running until 31 May.

Thank you to the Dutch Group for providing us, yet again, with such an engaging and interesting speaker about art : and we are still able to see the exhibition for ourselves, proficiat ! Full concentration on this beautiful subject was ensured by a homemade lunch with ’lekkere broodjes’ and cakes, served with excellent coffee and wine. The Dutch Embassy was again the generous sponsor to this event and not only by hosting us in its beautiful new building in the rue de Trèves.

Gudrun Schmidt
German Group

¹Siri Huistvedt, The Blazing World

Clara Peeters, Bloemenvaas, ca. 1610, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC

Judith Leyster, ’Zelfportret’, ca. 1630, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC