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sjparker98 's review for:
The Story of Art without Men
by Katy Hessel
Absolutely adored this book, both as a comprehensive introduction to female artists, and as a potential starting point for a thesis.
Thorough, clear, and beautifully presented, this is certainly a book to which I will return time and again. I got a little thrill of excitement every time an artist or venue I am familiar with was mentioned, and I learned so much about the foundations of non-male artists history.
As ever, it’s almost easier to talk about any drawbacks than to sing well-deserved praises. I would’ve loved to have seen more and more explicit non-binary representation, especially as Hessel was often so careful to refer to “non-male” artists. I respect this as an inclusive term — although I have feelings on being defined as not-a-man — but it felt unnecessary for the most part due to the lack of nb rep.
Hessel addresses this herself in the afterword, but part of me wishes she’d gone even further in exploding the canon. The chronological-ish structure and the reference to and attempts to sort artists into established groups felt restrictive.
Finally minor gripe in a book I genuinely adored and is so so important in the future of art history, is that the painting interpretations were painfully brief, not allowing space for Hessel to introduce particularly interesting or even salient points
Anyway, an incredible read and one that has left me feeling no very much more comfortable and excited about the future of art for FLINTA folks.
Thorough, clear, and beautifully presented, this is certainly a book to which I will return time and again. I got a little thrill of excitement every time an artist or venue I am familiar with was mentioned, and I learned so much about the foundations of non-male artists history.
As ever, it’s almost easier to talk about any drawbacks than to sing well-deserved praises. I would’ve loved to have seen more and more explicit non-binary representation, especially as Hessel was often so careful to refer to “non-male” artists. I respect this as an inclusive term — although I have feelings on being defined as not-a-man — but it felt unnecessary for the most part due to the lack of nb rep.
Hessel addresses this herself in the afterword, but part of me wishes she’d gone even further in exploding the canon. The chronological-ish structure and the reference to and attempts to sort artists into established groups felt restrictive.
Finally minor gripe in a book I genuinely adored and is so so important in the future of art history, is that the painting interpretations were painfully brief, not allowing space for Hessel to introduce particularly interesting or even salient points
Anyway, an incredible read and one that has left me feeling no very much more comfortable and excited about the future of art for FLINTA folks.