by Alex Storey

Created on: September 23, 2011

The canon of art history would probably include da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael as the most important artists in Europe; after-all they were the main players in High Renaissance.

However, is the world of art not a little prejudice against women? None of these recognised artist are female so does this mean that feminism in European art is not important?

Berthe Morisot was an Impressionist in nineteenth-century Paris and described as one of the "three dames of impressionism" who exhibited in the highly acclaimed Salon de Paris in 1864 and ten years later began a series of her own exhibitions alongside friends of hers including Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet and Renoir. Berthe married Eugene who was the brother of Edouard Manet and became quite an important figure on the European scene.

Artemisia Gentileschi is considered one of the most accomplished painters of the Renaissance and she was a woman. Gentileschi was influenced by Caravaggio at a time when females were not generally accepted and became a member of the Academy in Florence – this was not an easy thing to do.

Angelica Kauffman was a Swiss artist taught to paint by her father which was really the only way women could get involved in the eighteenth-century. Being a skilled painter himself her father was able to provide the necessary things most females had no access to due to discrimination. Angelica spoke several languages and played many musical instruments and was very well travelled, thus being commissioned by the wife of a British ambassador to do a portrait of David Garrick (the famous playwright) whilst on a trip to London.

Tracey Emin is an English-Turkish Cypriot who is part of the Britartists group. Emin has been exhibited at the Royal Academy and been a Turner Prize nominee. She opened the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate and is likely to exhibit there soon. Having lectured at the Victoria and Albert and Tate Britain she is the quintessential feminist with her modes of expression including needlework, sculpture, drawing, video, photography and painting.

Mary Shelley was a British writer best known for her novel Frankenstein which she conceived the idea for when visiting Lord Byron in Geneva. This work of English literature still remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations for every age group and academic level.

The above anthology really does prove that important art in European history isn’t only about males but females too.

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