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The Story of Art Without Men

Written by Katy Hessel

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637 pages, about 13 hours of reading

Art

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About this book

Instant New York Times bestseller One of Vanity Fair's Favorite Books to Gift • One of PureWow's 42 Books to Gift This Year • One of Kirkus's Best Books of 2023 The story of art as it’s never been told before, from the Renaissance to the present day, with more than 300 works of art. How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway? Guided by Katy Hessel, art historian and founder of @thegreatwomenartists, discover the glittering paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, the radical work of Harriet Powers in the nineteenth-century United States and the artist who really invented the “readymade.” Explore the Dutch Golden Age, the astonishing work of postwar artists in Latin America, and the women defining art in the 2020s. Have your sense of art history overturned and your eyes opened to many artforms often ignored or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan, this is the history of art as it’s never been told before.

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Reading guide

Themes, characters and key ideas in The Story of Art Without Men, written by Chaptra AI.

  • about 8 hours
  • intermediate
  • Enlightening
  • Revolutionary
  • Informative

Katy Hessel's "The Story of Art Without Men" is a groundbreaking revisionist history that reclaims the contributions of women artists from the Renaissance to the present day. Challenging the traditional, male-dominated art historical canon, Hessel meticulously unearths and celebrates over 300 works by often-overlooked women, from Sofonisba Anguissola to Harriet Powers and contemporary figures. The book serves as an essential corrective, revealing how women have consistently shaped art across diverse cultures and eras, offering a more inclusive and accurate understanding of global art history. It aims to not only educate but also to inspire a re-evaluation of who makes art, who defines its value, and whose stories are told.

“How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history?”

Key themes

Reclaiming Women's Art History
This is the central, overarching theme of the book: the systematic effort to uncover, document, and celebrate the artistic contributions of women throughout history, which have been largely ignored or suppressed by traditional art historical narratives. Hessel aims to provide a comprehensive counter-narrative, proving that women have always been active and innovative artists.
Challenging the Art Historical Canon
The book directly challenges the established 'canon' of art history, which has predominantly focused on white male artists from Western Europe. Hessel questions the criteria for inclusion, the power dynamics involved in canon formation, and the inherent biases that have shaped our understanding of 'important' art.
Visibility and Erasure
This theme explores the mechanisms by which certain artists gain visibility and lasting recognition, while others are systematically erased from historical records, critical discourse, and public memory. Hessel examines the societal, institutional, and gendered factors contributing to this phenomenon.

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