About

Welcome! What is this you ask?

10” version - an ongoing project collecting deceased, mostly forgotten, female artists. In 1971 Linda Nochlin wrote a paper “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”, here we attempt to prove that famous essay wrong. Admittedly she had a point about institutional barriers, but then again, what is ‘great’ anyway?

A few things converged to bring this project together. History, of any sort, has never been my personal passion. However, after a run in with a fairly well known conceptual artist and a chastising from him about my lack of art knowledge, alongside a slow realisation that 99.9% of artists who made the history books were men, the question arose in me, if I can't see any female artists, could I ever hope to be one? Could women be 'Artists', acknowledged as such, and contribute to art history?

Then a new year came and I did what I normally do, create some sort of daily creative project. 2019 was the year I wanted to improve my ability to capture likeness. On January 1st I started to draw a face every day as my practice. Realising choosing the subjects would soon be an issue I was scrambling for ideas. Drawing people the general public knows is quite daunting. Then, my eureka moment! I would draw forgotten deceased female artists no one knew! I would improve my skill AND my knowledge and most likely no one would recognise them. There is nothing worse than someone posting a bad likeness of your favourite idol. I was very proud of my convergence of ideas and then, well, here we are...this is the home for them. I continue to find new artists, draw them, and remain inspired by their lives. I love that they pursued their passions in times where their options were mostly centred around procreation. They have inspired me and I hope they will give you the same excuse to pursue your creative dreams. Whether recognised or not. I think these women are great for even having the confidence to make art pre 1970. 1970, only 50 years after women were acknowledged as having the sense to vote. In the cannon of history, 2022 is not a bad time to be alive. As much as the internet has completely rewritten how we live, communicate and creates a noisy stressful existence, I am so grateful that history is no longer in the hands of a select few.

- Amy