Schlagwort-Archive: Literature

TIPP! Literature

Overlooked female modernist artist Marthe Donas dazzles in Belgium

A new exhibition at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp brings attention to Belgian modernist Marthe Donas, an artist whose contributions to early 20th-century abstraction were long overshadowed by her male contemporaries. Titled “Donas, Archipenko & La Section d’Or: Enchanting Modernism“, the exhibition runs from October 4th 2025 to January 11th 2026 and presents 55 works that trace Donas’s artistic evolution and situate her within the wider European avant-garde.

Working under the gender-neutral pseudonym “Tour Donas” Marthe Donas achieved early recognition in the years following the First World War. Critics at the time praised the “charm” and “kind of gentle timidity that seems to reveal a feminine sensitivity” of her paintings, unaware that the artist was a woman navigating the male-dominated circles of Cubism and abstraction.

Donas’s biography reveals both persistence and disruption. After early studies cut short by family disapproval, she resumed her artistic training following a serious accident and the upheavals of World War I. Her encounters with Archipenko in Nice in 1917 marked a turning point; their professional and personal relationship led to a period of intense creativity and mutual influence. Curator Adriaan Gonnissen and art Co-Curator Peter Pauwels emphasize Donas’s independent contributions during this period, arguing that “she wasn’t ‘a young pupil’ when she met Archipenko, but a 32-year-old artist in her own right”.

Despite early acclaim, Donas withdrew from public artistic life by the late 1920s after becoming a mother unexpectedly at the age of 45. Only recently has her work been reexamined within the broader narrative of modernism. The exhibition forms part of a wider curatorial effort to recover the histories of overlooked women artists.

Learn more about Marthe Donas’s remarkable life in Jennifer Rankin’s full article for The Guardian here.

TIPP! Literature

German Artist Gabriele Stötzer Survived Prison, Censorship, and the Stasi

In the interview with journalist Tom Seymour on September 1st, 2025 for ARTnews, German artist Gabriele Stötzer reflected on her extraordinary journey as an East German artist working under censorship, surveillance, and patriarchal control. Expelled from university and imprisoned for defending dissident voices, Stötzer transformed resistance into radical creativity. Working in obscurity and under the eye of the Stasi, she co-founded the feminist collective Exterra XX, staging underground performances, films, and fashion shows that challenged both state and patriarchal structures.

Now, decades later, Stötzer is receiving long overdue recognition with her first major institutional solo show “Mit Hand & Fuss, Haut & Haar presented at Muzeum Susch from 15th June until 2nd November, 2025.

To learn more about Stötzer’s remarkable journey—from prison to helping preserve Germany’s Stasi surveillance archives after the fall of the Wall — read the full interview here.

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Gillian Raffles: Pioneering Gallerist

The article Gillian Raffles: Pioneering Gallerist, published by Lyon & Turnbull in April 2025, pays tribute to one of the few female gallerists who shaped London’s post-war art world. Founder of the Mercury Gallery in 1964, Raffles championed figurative art and supported artists such as Elizabeth Blackadder throughout their whole careers. Fellow gallerist and friend Sarah Hargreaves says:

Firmly committed to artistic integrity over market trends, Gillian Raffles balanced showcasing emerging talent with dealing in established 20th-century European artists like Egon Schiele, Alexej von Jawlensky and Emil Nolde. The Mercury Gallery, with branches in London and Edinburgh, became known for its thoughtful curation, loyal clientele, and institutional impact.

Raffles’ legacy lives on through her archive safekept at Tate Archive and the continued relevance of her impact on the post-war art world.

Curious to learn more about Gillian Raffles? Read the full article here or watch artists David Remfry RA and Elizabeth Ogilvie remember and reflect on their friendships with the pioneering gallerist.

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How women pioneers shape the art world across centuries

The article „How Women Pioneers Shape the Art World Across Centuries,” published by Christie’s on March 5, 2025, explores the influential role of women in the art market, past and present. It highlights key figures such as the Italian noblewoman Isabella d’Este, visionary collectors Peggy Guggenheim and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, as well as arts patron Anne H. Bass. The article also features contemporary collectors like Mica Ertegun, Piper Tseng and Grace Wu, who continue to shape the industry today.

Beyond celebrating these pioneers, the article examines how female collectors are actively working to promote gender equality in the art market through various initiatives.

Curious to learn more? Find the full article here.

TIPP! Literatur

New gallery championing women and queer artists to open in east London

Am 13. Februar 2025 eröffnete die Künstlerin und Galeristin Sarah Le Quang Sang die SLQS Gallery in London, die sich auf die Förderung weiblicher und queerer Künstler:innen fokussiert. Am 7. Februar sprach die Galeristin mit der The Art Newspaper-Journalistin Anna Brady über die Notwendigkeit eines solchen Raums, da diese Künstler:innen trotz zunehmender Presseberichterstattung in der Gesellschaft und im Kunstmarkt weiterhin unterrepräsentiert und unterbewertet seien.

Insbesondere ihre eigene Mutterschaft verstärkte in Le Quang Sang den Wunsch in ihrer Galerie einen Ort zu erschaffen, der als Safe-Space für die Künstler:innen fungiert.

„Becoming a mother changed everything–my schedule, my mobility, my decisions. Starting my own gallery is partly driven by a desire to work in a way that honors this reality. I want to create an environment where women and queer artists feel safe, valued and free to express their many roles without fear or apology.” – Le Quang Sang

Der vollständige Artikel ist kostenfrei unter diesem Link einsehbar.