Famous female artists: top 10 most famous, list, art direction, best works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

How many women's names do you remember when talking about visual art? If you think about it, the feeling that men have completely filled this niche does not leave … But there are such ladies, and their stories are truly unusual. This article will focus on the most famous artists in the world: Frida Kahlo, Zinaida Serebryakova, Yayoi Kusama. And the story of 76-year-old Grandma Moses is simply unique!

The article will focus on ten women who conquered the world of art with their original painting, liveliness of canvases, original vision of the world, and the ability to practically revive clay in sculpture. Let them be few, but every educated person must know about them. In this selection, you are likely to discover new names for yourself and be able to make sure that the fair sex in art has proved to be no worse than men. Below you will see a list of famous artists.

1. Yayoi Kusama is the most famous female artist in the world.living now

It's about a Japanese woman artist who conquered the world with her work. Crazy popularity came to her in 2014. Her work is exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of the Smithsonian Institution. What does a Japanese woman like to portray? Her paintings and installations are colorful pumpkins, hanging globes, polka dots.

Today, the popularity of an artist on a global scale is determined solely by the number of people who buy tickets to exhibitions, according to the British edition of The Art Newspaper. In 2014, the 86-year-old artist's retrospective was visited by two million people in Brazil. The exhibition is called "Endless Obsession".

In the exposition there were installations of incredible size, decorated with mirrors and polka dots. The works of the most famous Japanese artist are exhibited periodically around the world. What is most interesting is that the author has been voluntarily living in a psychiatric hospital for 10 years. There she works on her unusual exhibits.

Japanese works in genres:

• painting;
• collage;
• sculpture;
• performance;
• installation;
• happening.

Styles she uses in her work:

• art brut;
• pop art.

She paints, makes incredible collages, installations and soft sculptures. One of her works was sold for $5,100,000 and broke all records in price forworks of contemporary art.

2. Frida Kahlo - temperamental Mexican

In second place in our ranking is Frida - one of the most famous women artists in the world. It is difficult to imagine a fate more dramatic than hers. The famous Mexican artist suffered from polio as a child. As a result, one of her legs became shorter than the other. But the rebellious girl didn't want people to see her as a cripple. She carefully concealed her injury. To do this, she wore many pairs of stockings on one leg, as well as special shoes. Frida tried to be no different from her peers: she played football, made friends, fell in love.

In her youth, fate again hurts Frida. She gets into an accident. The bus she is on collides with a tram. It is literally being pieced together. For a year she lies in bed almost motionless. To somehow pass the time, Frida begins to draw. She paints paintings in the genre of painting and engraving. Styles in which the artist works:

• realism;
• surrealism;
• symbolism.

Since she sees almost no one but herself in the mirror, which is attached to the ceiling, during this period she creates exclusively self-portraits. In total, she will write 60 of them in her life. They are all very bright.

Broken Column

The girl stood up, which, according to the doctors, was something incredible. From them, she learns that now she will have to wear a supporting corset for the rest of her life. This fact is reflected in her painting "Broken Column", which was painted in 1944.

The day of the terrible tragedy that broke her whole life, she captured on a canvas painted in 1929. It's called "Bus Stop". Among the people waiting for the ill-fated bus is the still unsuspecting Kahlo herself.

The dream of big love comes true

Frida's reinforced concrete will has done its job, and the 22-year-old girl returns to normal life. She decides that she needs to study and enters the National Institute. There she meets her future husband - a venerable artist, loving, fat and clumsy, but incredibly charismatic Diego Rivero. Frida falls head over heels in love. Yes, and he is not indifferent to the talented artist.

Difficult marriage

A little later they got married. Their family happiness can hardly be called cloudless. Frida suffers all her life because of her inferiority and her husband's infidelities. She depicts his lies in the film Without Hope (1945). This canvas illustrates the Mexican proverb "Feed from the funnel". In Russian, its analogue is the phrase "Hang noodles on your ears."

Loss of a child

Henry Ford's Hospital (1932) is a very complex work by the famous female artist. The canvas depicts Frida herself, who has just lost her baby. There are five sad symbols around her:

1. Crushed pelvis causing miscarriage.
2. Lost baby.
3. Snail, symbolizing the long time in the hospital room.
4. A mechanical device that embodies cruelty andcoldness of medical procedures.
5. Orchid is a flower that shows that sexuality and the desire to become a mother are still alive in her.

It is very difficult to describe the entire life path and work of this wonderful woman with incredible sexual magnetism and strong will within the framework of one article. A celebrity came to Frida during her lifetime.

She painted 145 oil paintings. Her very first exhibition, organized by her future husband, brought her popularity. In the New York gallery, she sold almost all the paintings. We know that Frida, despite all her injuries, has become a style icon. She liked to be bright, to shock. She never blindly followed trends, but rather led the fashion world.

Style icon

Frida wore bright fluffy skirts, with which she tried to hide her flaws and emphasize sexuality and temperament. This idea first came to her husband, who believed that Mexican women were special women. And they should emphasize their originality with a national costume, and not adopt trends from American women. The first time Frida wore a Mexican costume was for her wedding to Diego.

The last painting and death

Frida Kahlo has died at 47. She passed away a week after her exhibition. She was taken to her in a hospital bed. That day, she joked a lot and drank wine.

The last picture of the Mexican was the canvas "Circle". A year before her death, her leg was amputated. She drank a lot and her work lost detail. The canvas is very scary emotionally. ATit reflects all the pain of Frida, who understands that her body is being destroyed and death will come soon. There are no details in the picture: flowers, plants. Only a crumbling female figure that dissolves into chaotic strokes.

Frida Kahlo is rightfully included in the list of famous artists of the world. She left behind: paintings, clothes, diaries. These things became exhibits in the house-museum of the same name in Mexico City. This was their shared housing with Diego. Today everyone can visit this place.

3. Sofonisba Anguissola

A famous portrait painter who worked in the second half of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Most of all in her creative heritage of self-portraits.

A girl was born in a noble family. Her father dreamed that all his children would develop creative abilities. In addition to her, the family had 4 more daughters. Thanks to her father, Anguissola receives an excellent art education, as he hires the best teachers for his children. Among them are Bernardo Campi and Michelangelo himself.

Angissola was best at portraying people. She painted her relatives in a natural manner at their favorite pastimes. The author's portrait resemblance turned out to be almost photographic.

Her paintings are held in the Southampton City Art Gallery in the UK.

Best List:

• "Portrait of the artist's sisters playing chess";
• "Portrait of a young woman in profile";
• "Self Portrait";
• "Portrait of Bianca Ponzone";
• "Elizabeth of Valois";
• "Phillip 2".

4. Maria Bashkirtseva

The greatest achievement of this famous artist from Russia is that her works for the first time in the history of world art got into the Louvre as a painting created by a lady. They can be seen there to this day.

Maria lived and worked in the middle of the 19th century. Her life was short, but bright and full of events and creativity. The girl graduated from the Academy of Painting, but she received most of her knowledge through self-education. Even during her lifetime, people were interested in her works, they were exhibited, and a lot was written about them in the press. Unfortunately, today almost no originals of her works have been preserved. They were destroyed during the Second World War. The artist's most famous painting in the world is called "The Diary".

5. Angelica Kaufman

Angelica Kaufman is one of the most educated ladies of the Age of Enlightenment. Her father was also an artist, but he did not achieve great success in this field. The Kaufman family traveled a lot and moved to live from place to place. At the age of 9, the girl was good at pencil drawing and oil painting.

Since childhood, she dreamed of popularity. And she succeeded. She was the only lady who was enrolled in the Academy of St. Luke. And after a short time in the French Royal Academy. The most fruitful in terms of creativity were the years she lived in the capital of Great Britain. Angelica worked in the neoclassical style. In the Hermitage you can enjoy such paintings of her:

• "CrazyMaria";
• "Childhood of the Virgin Mary";
• "The Monk of Calais";
• "Self Portrait";
• "Portrait of Countess A. S. Protasova with her nieces."

6. Mary Tussauds

The name of the artist is widely known. All thanks to the Wax Museum, which quickly gained and does not lose its popularity. Marie's father was also a sculptor. It was he who gave her the famous museum where the artist worked. She later passed the business on to her children and grandchildren.

The museum is located in London (Marylebone area). It was founded 200 years ago. Has 19 branches worldwide.

7. Camille Claudel

A famous female artist and a very talented and tenacious woman. An eighteen-year-old girl independently decided to conquer the capital of France and achieved success. Camilla was engaged in sculpture and graphics. Created in the style of impressionism.

List of the most outstanding works of Camille Claudel:

• "Talent and inspiration";
• "Bronze W altz";
• "Prayer";
• "Maturity".

Part of the artist's works were signed by her teacher and lover Auguste Rodin. These are sculptures:

• "Kiss";
• "The Eternal Idol" and many others.

The works of Camille Claudel, which the poet Grigory Markovsky called the "Medea of the Modern era", can be seen in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

8. Frances MacDonald

Francis became famous for the fact that, along withher talented sister became the ancestor of the Art Deco style. Her Art Nouveau paintings are known all over the world and they are truly unique. Famous Paintings:

• "Dream";
• "Mother of Roses";
• Ophelia.

Unfortunately, Francis' husband burned most of her paintings after her death.

9. Grandma Moses' Incredible Popularity: "At 76, Life Is Just Beginning…"

So said the famous American artist Anna Moses. Can fame come at such a venerable age, when you only recently just embroidered, and then timidly and uncertainly, at the age of 70, began to make the first strokes with a brush? It turns out yes!

Her name was Grandma Moses. Not many have heard about this far from young self-taught artist, who began to paint rather because she had a lot of free time.

Anna Moses is a wonderful person from whom you should learn how to live! She spoke of the years she had lived as if it were a painting that she painted brushstroke after brushstroke for many years. But the painting is not finished yet! Even when it seemed that everything was already done, you can add such final touches that the whole world will simply gasp! And so she did. But everything is in order. Next, we will tell you about the path to art of one of the most famous women artists in the world.

A few words about the artist

When Mrs. Moses began to create, she was the widow of a farmer and the mother of 10 children. Unfortunately, 5 of them passed away still quite crumbs. Anna Mary Moses - this is the full name of the master of painting.

Shewas born in September 1860. Her parents were farmers who lived in the state of New York. Neither now nor then did anything here prompt cultural development. The outskirts of the area where the family lived could hardly be called a completely civilized place. However, Mary didn't care much. In this sense, she reminds that real talent will break through everywhere, like a strong sprout that breaks through the thickness of the asph alt, wanting to develop and enjoy the gentle rays of the sun.

Anna's family lived in poverty. The girl's education ended with the fact that she was taught to read and write. Mother and father could not give her more. Already at the age of 12, she had to be hired as a servant to we althy neighbors. And from that moment on, all her thoughts were about how to earn money so as not to die of hunger.

Marriage

She got married, by the standards of that time, incredibly late - as early as 27 years old! At that period of history, girls of such a “venerable” age were already considered almost old maids. Such ladies had very little hope of finding a decent groom. Anna's husband was the same hard worker and poor man as she was. The guy was a simple farmhand and barely made ends meet. But the young people sincerely loved each other and overcame all difficulties, holding hands tightly.

For eighteen years they saved up to buy a small farm in their homeland. In 1905, the dream of the Moses spouses came true. They got their own business. Anna at that time was already 45 years old. For thirty-three years she worked for strangers from dawn to dusk, and then hard work awaited her on her own estate. About what used to beshe will start painting wonderful pictures, there was no thought.

In 1927, Moses was 67 years old. She became a grandmother. The woman buried her husband the same year. Their eldest son took charge of the family business. Anna had some free time, and she devoted it to embroidery. She was devoted to this occupation for about 9 years.

At 76, she decided to try her hand at painting. Perhaps she would have continued to use only a needle, but she was terribly tormented by such a disease as arthritis. The daughter advised her to pick up a brush, knowing that her mother loved to draw from childhood, but she did not have the opportunity. Grandma Moses gave her first works to children, relatives, friends.

The plots of her paintings won me over with their cuteness and naivety. These were beautiful estates, well-groomed wonderful farms, scenes from the life of ordinary peasants. They were more like pictures that children draw. The style in which the craftswoman worked is called primitivism. However, in these works there was liveliness and dynamics. Especially well the famous woman artist came out with paintings that depicted landscapes. On the winter kids, they played snowballs, on the summer ones, they swam in the rivers and played catch-up.

Paintings

Mrs. Moses exhibited her work at local fairs, alongside her delicious jams, which have received more praise and attention so far. Her brightest works:

• "Winter";
• Checkered House;
• "Home for Christmas";
• "Let me help";
• "Halloween".

Unexpected popularity

Fame came to Anna unexpectedly and unexpectedly, at the age of 78 years. The paintings of Grandmother Moses were accidentally seen by a well-known collector who was passing by a shop, in the window of which her paintings in the style of primitivism were exhibited. He immediately asked who the author of the paintings. The owner replied that there is one unusual grandmother here, who gives away her work to everyone.

The man went to Moses' house, it was unlocked, and the woman played in the backyard with her grandchildren and fed the chickens. The collector, whose name was Louis Kaldor, asked to see all of her paintings. He invited her to purchase all of her 14 works for a lot of money. Anna did not immediately understand what exactly he wanted to buy: her house or work. Before leaving, he said that he would make Moses a celebrity. Grandma thought he had a problem with his head…

At that time, “folk art” became fashionable in the USA. Moses got into this stream. Further, Louis Kaldor began to promote the works of Grandmother Moses to all the exhibitions available to him in New York. At first, there was little interest in the paintings. However, stubbornness is the way to win!

Exhibitions

In October 1940, the collector opened an exhibition of paintings by Anna Moses in the modern New York gallery Galerie St. Etienne. The woman at that time was 80 years old. She personally thanked everyone present. Further, fame fell on an elderly lady. She was ordered dozens of paintings. Her works began to be printed on postcards, wrappers, posters, dishes, and fabrics.

Woman artist lived 101 years and plentyenjoyed fame. At the end of her life, she became truly happy, because she had a favorite thing that she burned with, and her works were sold very expensively. The talent of the famous American artist is recognized all over the world. Her naive and warm, sincere works are so sweet that you simply dissolve in them, because the pictures were painted by a real grandmother: kind, affectionate, forgiving.

10. Zinaida Serebryakova

It is not for nothing that she is one of the famous women artists of Russia. Her paintings "At Breakfast", "At the Toilet", "Whitening of the Canvas" and many others after her death will be sold for fabulous sums. The artist herself did not live a rich life. As part of this article, we will tell you some interesting facts from her life.

1. In her youth, Zinaida fell in love with her cousin. Naturally, the family began to oppose this marriage. Young people decided to run away.
2. Most of the artist's works are devoted to the work of peasants in the fields. In order to be able to draw from life, she got up at dawn, came to the field, where she set up an easel and laid out brushes.
3. Due to the extreme poverty in which she spent most of her life, Zinaida had to make her own paints.
4. Leaving, as it seemed to her, for a while to France and leaving the children in Russia, she could not even think that she would see them only after 36 years.
5. Serebryakova never returned to Russia. Her grave is in France.

Exhibitions of Serebryakova's paintings are often held in New York and Chicago.