I finally got around to reading the exhibition catalogue for the recent Tate Britain exhibiton ‘Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920’, which ran from 16 May to 13 October 2024. I went to see it on its final weekend.
The exhibition was expansive, and I spent far too long in the earlier sections, reading all the info panels. Once I got about halfway through I was feeling very tired. So I decided to stop reading all the information and instead focus on having a good look at each artwork while I had the chance to see it in person, and get the book to read later.
I really enjoyed the book. As is usual with books about women artists, it’s as infuriating a read as it is a fascinating one. The hurdles that were put in front of women were at times ridiculous, but they worked hard to overcome them.
I’m going to write more about some of the individual artists I found most interesting to learn about in later posts.