Celebrating Female Creativity

Our panorama of female artists ranges from Anne Vallayer-Coster, friend of Marie-Antoinette and one of very few female members of the Académie Royale in the eighteenth century, to the distinguished contemporary free-carving sculptor Emily Young. Nineteenth century painters like Henriette Ronner-Knip and Jessica Hayllar built lucrative careers from traditional ‘female’ subjects such as animal and still life painting. Vanessa Bell was at the heart of the movement which brought Post-Impressionism to Britain. Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink and Emily Young forged international careers from the traditional ‘male’ preserve of stone and bronze sculpture, working on a scale from the delicate to the monumental. The breadth of their skill and imagination is an inspiration to us all.