Women Masters

From 31 October to 4 February, the temporary exhibition hall of the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum is hosting a group exhibition that presents a journey from the end of the 16th century to the first decades of the 20th century through eight relevant scenes in the path of women towards their emancipation, showing how the artists participating in this exhibition tackled burning issues of their time, took a stance and contributed new iconographies and alternative viewpoints.

This exhibition project consists of almost a hundred pieces, including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and textiles, created by the artists Artemisia Gentileschi, Angelica Kauffman, Clara Peeters, Rosa Bonheur, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, María Blanchard, Natalia Goncharova, Sonia Delaunay and Maruja Mallo, Natalia Goncharova, Sonia Delaunay and Maruja Mallo, famous artists of their time who today are once again recognised as masters, in response to the erasure in the history of art that they suffered alongside others who broke the mould with works of unquestionable excellence.

The conjunction of historical periods, artistic genres and themes is the main axis around which the exhibition is structured, highlighting the struggle of these women artists.

Image Credits:

• Elisabetta Sirani. Portia wounding her Thigh. 1664. Oil on canvas, 101 × 138 cm. Collezioni d’Arte e di Storia della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, Bolonia
• Mary Cassatt. Spanish Girl leaning on a Window Sill. 1872. Oil on canvas, 62 × 47 cm. Manuel Piñanes García-Olías
• Maria Sibylla. Merian Dissertation sur la generation et les transformations des insectes de Surinam. La Haya, 1726. Biblioteca Histórica "Marqués de Valdecilla" de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Marie Petiet. The Laundresses. 1882. Oil on canvas. 113 x 170 cm. Limoux, Musée PetietPhoto credit : © Photographe Philippe Benoist- Images Bleu-sud
• Mary Cassatt. Breakfast in Bed. 1897. Oil on canvas. 58.4 x 73.7 cm, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation.. Photo: Courtesy of The Huntington Art Museum, San Marino, California
• Paula Modersohn-Becker. Mother and daughter (?), half-figure. 1906 (detail). Oil on cardboard. 74,5 x 52 cm. Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal. photo credit: Antje Zeis-Loi, Medienzentrum Wuppertal