Women Artists!

There have been female artists ever since there have been artists. Their visibility is linked to many, often local, conditions.

The exhibition presents 31 selected female artists who were active in Düsseldorf at a time when they were not allowed to study at the renowned art academy. Under these circumstances, pursuing a career as an artist required not only the financial means for private tuition but also a great deal of willpower. Although some women artists were astonishingly present in their time – including Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann, Marie Wiegmann and Paula Monjé – almost all of them are forgotten today. They are comparatively little represented in public collections, such as that of the Kunstpalast, and many of the works shown in this exhibition are being presented to the public for the first time since the 19th century.