Women artists from 400 years united

History paintings, battle scenes and nudes: for centuries, seeing such paintings by women was a rarity and bordered on scandalous. For example, women were forbidden to paint from naked live models; they had to study other paintings or examine proportions on their own bodies. History painting, the highest genre of painting, was considered too complex to be painted by women. Only a few exceptions, such as Angelika Kauffmann, managed to assert themselves in this field. Most women painters devoted themselves to portrait and still life painting. The Tate Britain in London is bringing together the exhibition Now You See Us. Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920 brings together over 150 works of art by women from 400 years. The show offers exciting insights into the life and work of numerous well-known and unknown female artists and dispels some clichés, such as the belief that almost all female painters were not full-time professionals. From May 16 to October 13, visitors will have the opportunity to discover this unique collection.

The artists on display include famous names such as Mary Beale (1633-1699), Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807), Elizabeth Butler (1846-1933) and Laura Knight (1877-1970), as well as lesser-known representatives such as Gwen John (1876-1939). The Welsh painter studied in London and moved to Paris in 1903. She was hardly known during her lifetime, but since the 1960s there have been more and more books and exhibitions about her. Today, John's works can be found in London's Tate Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.