Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity
This fascinating exhibition examines works on paper—etchings, engravings, lithographs, drawings, watercolors, woodblock prints, and photographs—by some of the most important women artists of the last four centuries with a selection of 37 examples from the Reading Public Museum’s fine permanent collection. The show chronicles the emergence of women as professionals in the field of art and records the extraordinary creative contributions made over the centuries.
Historical works by (or after) Elisabetta Sirani (Italian, 1638 – 1665) and Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (French, 1755 – 1842), outstanding nineteenth-century works by Rosa Bonheur (French, 1822 – 1899), Anna Lea Merritt (American, 1844 – 1930), and Eliza Greatorex (American, 1819 – 1897), and examples by icons of twentieth century art like Sonia Delaunay (French, 1885 – 1979), Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867 – 1945), Louise Nevelson (1899 – 1988), and Françoise Gilot (French, 1921 – 2023 ), are featured in the exhibition. Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) era works by Clara Skinner (American, 1902 – 1976), Peggy Bacon (American, 1895 – 1987), and Isabel Bishop (American, 1902 – 1988) capture contemporary life on the streets of New York, theaters, and rural America. Works by more contemporary artists such as Lee Bontecou (American, 1931 – 2022), Elizabeth Osborne (American, b. 1936), Ida Applebroog (American, b. 1929), and Lorna Simpson (b. 1960), among others, explore meaningful trends in the current world of art.
Contents: 37 framed works on paper
Size: Approximately 120 linear feet
Exhibition fee includes: approximate 12 week loan period, digital versions of labels and text panels, and a marketing packet including several high-resolution images, captions, and a sample press release
Exhibition Tour:
Pauly Friedman Art Gallery, Misericordia University, Dallas, PA
Ellen Nöel Art Museum, Odessa, TX
Gadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FL
Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
Exhibition Checklist
View exhibition price sheet
For more information on traveling exhibits please contact Ashley Houston at
610.371.5850 x232 or Ashley.houston@readingpublicmuseum.org.
