Officially hitting book store shelves today is GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS published by Phaidon as part of The Art Book series. With 646 pages featuring over 400 artists, over 500 years, from 54 countries, this is the “most extensive fully illustrated book of women artists ever published”.

“Edited down from a long-list of over two thousand artists, the collection was finessed in consultation with Phaidon colleagues and art experts globally. The selection reflects as wide a variety of artists as possible, from different periods and parts of the world, who work with varied materials in diverse mediums.”

Why This Book? At a time when women artists are gaining more recognition,  Rebecca Morrill reminds us in her introduction that “where art is exhibited, traded and written about – male artists are still likely to be more successful by any number of measure…”This includes gallery representation, higher market prices, and featured more in publications. That being said, institutional shifts are happening in museums and galleries which has raised the profile of female artists. The internet and social media have also played a significant part, writes Morrill.

A Point of Departure: GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS makes no claims to be a comprehensive volume of all women artists. The book is, a “point of departure. to prompt and support further exploration – to read more, see more and share more art made by women throughout history, until the names in this book are as well known as so many of their male counterparts, and until there is no need to ask whether an artwork is made by a male of a female because equality, across all institutions of the art world, has finally been reached.”

Why You’ll Like This Book – We here at DAF really like this book – not only because the topic of recognition of women artists has been a feature on our site since our beginnings in 2009. This book is a treasure trove of artists, many that you’ve seen before, but even more that you probably have not. If you like discovering new art, (historical and contemporary), this book is for you. The artists are presented in alphabetical order rather than by date of birth, so you might find yourself looking at the creation date – and be surprised that a particular work is older than you imagined.  The book includes a helpful glossary of art terms, styles and movement with a list of significant artists related to each term. Finally, this book is BIG! At 9 7/8 x 11 3/8 inches, it is a joy to flip through the beautifully reproduced images and read the succinctly written bios. In an era where much of the art imagery we encounter is though small screens such as our cell phones and tablets, it is refreshing to have the tactile experience of an “in real life” art book.

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