Women Artists!

The show offers an insight into around 100 years of female artistic creation in Düsseldorf – a city that was a beacon for women artists from all over Europe in the nineteenth century, even though the doors of the art academy remained closed to them.

Following a multi-year research project, this large-scale special exhibition is the first of its kind to comprehensively examine the lives and works of the women who were involved in the arts in Düsseldorf during this period: a (re)discovery that has rewritten a chapter of art history. “Every new difficulty was a new motivation for me,” wrote the painter Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann around 1874 – a statement that reflects the attitude of many other women artists and could serve as the leitmotif of this exhibition.

The presentation highlights the perseverance and talent of generations of women in art who have long been ignored. Numerous works by the 31 featured artists are on display publicly for the first time since the nineteenth century. In addition to well-known names such as Gabriele Münter, this chronological and thematic presentation across eleven rooms showcases forgotten protagonists such as Amalie Bensinger, Magda Kröner and Marga Klinckenberg.

In 2021, the Kunstpalast initiated a research project that was the first to comprehensively search for evidence of women artists working in Düsseldorf between 1819 and 1919 – the 100 years between the re-establishment of the art academy and its gradual opening to women. The results surprised even the experts themselves: research carried out in archives, address books, exhibition catalogues and historical newspapers identified over 500 names – far more than the 200 or so that were previously known. Many of these women took private lessons, studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) or worked independently. Some were represented in international exhibitions, received prizes and scholarships, and had their works acquired by important collections. Nevertheless, they remain largely unknown today, as their names did not find their way into the artistic canon.

Women Artists! is more than merely a historical retrospective – the exhibition makes a clear statement in favour of equality and a critical reappraisal of the existing canon. It adds an important and long-overlooked chapter to art history and makes clear that without the influence of women artists, the history of art is incomplete.

Curator: Kathrin DuBois, Head of Painting until 1900
Research Assistant: Nina Köppert
Research Intern: Hannah Steinmetz