Artists

littlemissmartypants

(33,486 posts) Sun Mar 29, 2026, 07:25 PM 17 hrs ago

'Unsigned and neglected': These artworks are by women - but men got the credit

(Credit: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)

4 days ago
Deborah Nicholls-Lee

The magnificent unsigned painting The Triumph of Bacchus remained unseen, ignored and misattributed for centuries, but now its creator Michaelina Wautier is being celebrated with a major exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. Here is her masterwork – and four other groundbreaking artworks by women who are finally reclaiming their place in art history.

In 1993, while researching in the depot of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, art historian Katlijne Van der Stighelen stumbled upon an epic painting titled The Triumph of Bacchus (1655-59). She was taken aback. How could this magnificent unsigned tableau have languished for so long in museum storage? The answer was that it had been painted by a woman: Michaelina Wautier.

Since women were normally excluded from life-drawing classes, it was assumed that the painting was the work of Wautier's brother Charles."When it comes to works by female artists, questions of attribution always arise," Van der Stighelen tells the BBC. Works by women are often unsigned, neglected, and less likely to be cleaned, explains the Belgian art historian, and so there is "little chance of uncovering 'hidden' signatures". Women's art has long been overlooked, and currently, women make up just 1% of the collection at London's National Gallery.

Around 150 years later, the exhibition Michaelina Wautier, opening at London's Royal Academy tomorrow, is a reminder of how unjust that is. It's the Flemish artist's first UK exhibition and the broadest survey ever of her work. It's part of a wider phenomenon that sees women artists occupying more gallery space and reclaiming their place in art history. The first step is acknowledging the work is theirs. Here are five masterpieces misattributed to men.
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https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260325-the-artworks-by-women-where-men-got-the-credit