Rediscovering the Forgotten Female Masters of the Baroque
Explore the long-overlooked works of over 40 female Baroque artists in a groundbreaking new exhibition in Ghent.
In a remarkable celebration of artistic talent long shrouded in obscurity, a new exhibition in Ghent is shining a spotlight on the remarkable female artists of the Baroque era. The show, titled 'Old Masters Too', is in part a rediscovery of more than 40 mostly forgotten women who plied their trade in the Low Countries during a golden age of art.
Chief among them is Judith Leyster, a Dutch artist of the 17th century whose self-portrait from 1630 is a centerpiece of the exhibition. In the painting, the then-21-year-old Leyster exudes a cheerful confidence, leaning back in her chair with palette and brushes in hand, a completed work by her side.
This bold self-portrait, created the same year Leyster was admitted to a painters' guild in Haarlem, was one of the first such works by a female artist in the Dutch Republic - a device most male painters did not adopt until years later.
Source: The Guardian
