AWARE celebrates 1,000 women artists

 

AWARE celebrates 1,000 women artists

Since its creation in 2014, AWARE has worked to make women artists of the 19th and 20th centuries visible by producing and posting free bilingual (French/English) content about their work on its website. Among these, is a directory of biographies of women artists from around the world born between 1790 and 1972 working in visual arts, in all media. The AWARE website has reached 1,000 published biographies of women artists such as Miriam Cahn, Joan Mitchell, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Frida Khalo, precious resources that shed light on the artistic work of women. 1,000 women artists from all over the world already published The AWARE website has now published 1,000 biographies of internationally recognized women artist such as Camille Claudel, Tamara de Lempicka, Belkis Ayon, Maria Auxiliadora da Silva, Toshi Maruki, Felicia Aban, and Teresa Tyszkiewicz. Providing reliable biographical texts written by experts, biographies were originally taken from the Dictionnaire universel des créatrices published in 2013 thanks to a partnership with Editions des Femmes - Antoinette Fouque. Today, many artists biographies are published thanks to our partnerships with museums, universities, and cultural seasons in France and abroad. Others are published within the context of rigorous research programs in collaboration with hundreds of art historians from all parts of the world contributing to the growing development of AWARE’s database, with new artist profiles and research articles published online every week.

Map of artists published on the AWARE website

Content to help discover the lives and work of women artists In addition to the biographic records published on its site, AWARE also offers a wide range of content - podcasts, an animated series for children. Produced by AWARE, two podcast series “Les grandes dames de l’art” (Great women of art) and “Women house” gives voice to women artists by reading texts excerpts. The animated series “Little stories of great women artists” offers children 3-minute animated videos centred on the careers of women artists.

Podcats “Great women of art” about the artist Niki de Saint Phalle © Fanny Michaëlis

“Great women of art” podcast series The podcast “Great women of art” gives voice to women artists of the twentieth century : Niki de Saint Phalle, Louise Bourgeois, Germaine Richier or Anna-Eva Bergman talk about their works and their lives. Produced by AWARE, the podcast series “Great women of art” is narrated by Camille Morineau and produced in partnership with the Institut national de l’audiovisuel, with the support of the Maison Veuve Clicquot and the Délégation à la transmission, aux territoires et à la démocratie culturelle of the Ministère de la Culture. The illustrations for the episodes of “Great women of art” are by the artist Fanny Michaëlis. “Women House” podcast series Initiated by AWARE in the spring of 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the “Women House” podcast explores stories of confinement, whether forced or voluntary. Each episode invites a reader to bring to life a text by an author of her choice. A project produced by AWARE and made possible with the support of Belinda de Gaudemar. Podcats “Great women of art” about the artist Gisèle Freund © Fanny Michaëlis Animated series “Little stories of great women artists” “Little stories of great women artists” is an original project of entertaining and educational animated videos, intended for children. The objective of each episode is to introduce the life and work of a woman artist from the 19th or 20th century. Conceived by the scriptwriter Sophie Caron, each story conveys the originality of an approach, its importance within an artistic movement, certain decisive biographical episodes as well as the difficulties that the artist may have encountered. Animated series “Little stories of great women artists” about the artists Frida Kahlo and Camille Claudel © Tous droits réservés And also ... In order to widely disseminate research on women artists, AWARE organises symposia, round tables and seminars in France and abroad in collaboration with universities and museums. In order to pay tribute to women whose artistic careers have not been fully celebrated and artistic creation, each year the AWARE Prizes for Women Artists are presented in partnership with France’s Ministry of Culture. Bibliographic resources on women artists and feminist art are also available. Certain of these resources are available for consultation by appointment at AWARE’s Centre in Paris – which brings together more than 3,000 references. Exterior view of the Villa Vassilieff where AWARE is based © Philippe Piron, Matali Crasset, ADAGP About AWARE AWARE : Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions is a non-profit organization co-founded by President Nathalie Rigal and research director Camille Morineau. AWARE’s ambition is to rewrite the history of art by placing women on equal footing with their male counterparts and making their work better known. Today, most contributions to our website are thanks to AWARE’s international networks that work to better represent women artists from historically overlooked regions of the world and address issues such as the Western/Non-Western dichotomy and the erasure of minority artists and their work : TEAM : Teaching, E-learning, Agency, Mentoring is an international academic network, coordinated by Maura Reilly, whose goal is to collect and publish resources on women artists produced by academics. It allows AWARE to enrich its website, priority to geographical areas which are still under-represented, and to support the training of a new generation of art historians sensitive to gender issues and the place of women artists. AMIS : AWARE Museum Initiative and Support is the first initiative that brings together museums from around the world to collect and share research on women artists produced for exhibitions and acquisitions. Women Artists in Japan : 19th – 21st century is a three-year research programme that seeks to highlight the artistic production and contributions of women artists in Japan within a global cultural history. The project builds on previous scholarship to continue to reveal the presence of Japanese women artists from the 19th century until today, within all artistic movements. The Origin of Others. Rewriting Art History in the Americas, 19th Century – Today, organized in partnership with the Clark Art Institute, is a multifaceted three-year research project focusing on Black and Indigenous women artists in three broad geographical zones : Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. The program title references the series of essays by the author Toni Morrison, published in 2017. Index referencing the 1,000 biographies of women artists to discover online : awarewomenartists.com/en/artistes_femmes/

The American-Scandinavian Foundation and Juno Films present the NYC premiere of Lasse Hallstrom’s new film HILMA, April 5th, NYC

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HILMA HILMA AF KLINT BIOPIC — NYC PREMIERE WITH LASSE HALLSTRÖM, TORA HALLSTRÖM & LENA OLIN WED—APRIL 5—6:30 PM —The American-Scandinavian Foundation and Juno Films present the NYC premiere of Lasse Hallstrom’s new film HILMA, starring Oscar-nominated actors Lena Olin and Tora Hallström with Tom Wlaschiha, Catherine Chalk and Lily Cole. The screening will take place on Wednesday, April 5 at 6:30 PM at Scandinavia House (58 Park Ave, NYC) and will be followed by a Q&A with director Lasse Hallström, Lena Olin and Tora Hallstrom, moderated by actor, film producer and director Griffin Dunne.   Lasse Hallström’s HILMA brings to life the story of a woman who posthumously revolutionized the art world as one of the first abstract artists: Hilma af Klint. In this immersive biopic starring Tora Hallström as the young Hilma, and Lena Olin as the mature Hilma, we follow the artist from her early life through her rising artistic career and spiritual awakening after the loss of her beloved younger sister Hermina. HILMA explores af Klint’s spiritualism, her unconventional love life, and the impetus behind her work — from the writings of Rudolph Steiner to the strong influence of the Theosophic Movement, and her belief in its mystical philosophy — in a portrait of a woman well ahead of her time.    Having remained unknown and unrecognized as the woman who invented abstract painting after her death in 1944, a 2019 Guggenheim Museum exhibition devoted to Hilma af Klint’s work became her first major solo exhibition in the U.S., revolutionizing the art world and art history while displacing Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian as the fathers of Modernism. (120 min. In English) This event has been supported by the Consulate General of Sweden, Juno Films and ViaPlay. For media requests and high-res images contact lori@amscan.org or at 212-847-9727.     READ MORE

—Photo by Morten Krogvold SCANDINAVIA HOUSE 58 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10016 212–779–3587

C. Parker Gallery special Earth Day Event April 22 2PM.

Special Earth Day Event - Saturday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m. at the C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich. The Gallery will present a special Earth Day event honoring the late artist Mira Lehr's legacy as one of the pioneer champions for protecting the planet. Free and open to the public (RSVP required in advance to info@cparkergallery.com). The first exhibition after the passing of the nationally acclaimed, environmental artist Mira Lehr (she passed away on January 24). The gallery is located in the Tri-State region, in Greenwich. Please scroll down, the press release continues below for you . . . Nature's Rallying Cry: Honoring Mira Lehr (1934-2023) Features some of Lehr's last paintings: shown for the first time in the Tri-State region at the C. Parker Gallery (through April 26 in Greenwich). Beneath the Spruce, by Mira Lehr Nature's Rallying Cry: Honoring Mira Lehr (1934-2023) Features some of Lehr's last paintings: shown for the first time in the Tri-State region at the C. Parker Gallery (through April 26 in Greenwich) Just days before Mira Lehr passed away on January 24, the artist had aptly titled her new exhibition Nature’s Rallying Cry. The second part of this show’s title – Honoring Mira Lehr – was added after her passing.  When Lehr gave her final blessing in early January on which paintings would be shown at the C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, she was still making new artworks every day in her studio. During recent years, Lehr created new work at an even greater pace than ever before during her six decades of artmaking.  Her passing was recognized worldwide, some of the many tributes published across the U.S. and internationally include: The New York Times; The Art Newspaper in London, Paris, Israel, China and Italy; on PBS Television; The Boston Globe; The San Francisco Chronicle; on MSN News across Latin America, and many more. Earth Day Art Event: Saturday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m. The Gallery will present a special event in honor of Earth Day 2023, led by the celebrated New York-based art historian/critic Eleanor Heartney, honoring Mira Lehr’s eco-feminist legacy and impact. Free and open to the public. RSVP required in advance to info@cparkergallery.com. Mira Lehr was renowned worldwide as one of the art world's pioneer environmental activists, since 1969 when she was selected by Buckminster Fuller for his visionary World Game Project about planetary sustainability. The C. Parker Gallery is located at 409 Greenwich Avenue. Most of the 26 artworks in this show have never been exhibited before, and were created during the last four years of Lehr’s life. The nationally acclaimed, eco-feminist artist thrived on exhibiting her newest art, and she was looking forward to audiences seeing some of her most recent paintings at this show. Because of this, the exhibition includes one of Lehr’s last works, which she completed in January of 2023.  One of Mira Lehr’s last paintings, Orion’s Belt (completed by Lehr in January of this year) Nature’s Rallying Cry: Honoring Mira Lehr coincides with Women’s History Month in March, and Earth Day in April.  “The C. Parker Gallery is thrilled to bring Mira Lehr’s important artworks to the northeast for this show. Lehr was a pioneer in the arts, a leader in environmental activism, and a champion of women. Lehr’s vision of a better world shines through in this exhibition,” says Tiffany Benincasa, owner of the C. Parker Gallery.  “This collection gives tribute to both Mira Lehr and some of her final artworks. During the week of Art Basel Miami Beach, I was honored to work with Mira at her home studio, where she invited me to collaborate on selecting works. As we continued this selection process into January, I could not have imagined this would be the last time Mira Lehr would personally plan an exhibition,” adds Tiffany Benincasa.  This is the first exhibition of Mira Lehr's work after the death of the nationally acclaimed eco-feminist artist, who passed away on January 24 of this year. Northeast U.S. show in Greenwich features some of Lehr's last paintings, for audiences in the Tri-State region: at the C. Parker Gallery through April 26. Progression, by Mira Lehr Because Lehr is recognized for co-founding one of the country’s first women-led artist collectives more than sixty years ago, and due to her environmental art activism, Tiffany Benincasa chose the dates for this exhibition to include both Women’s History Month and Earth Day.  Pale Lilac, by Mira Lehr The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently acquired three of Lehr’s works for the museum’s permanent collection, in September of 2022. A year before her passing, Skira Editore (one of the world’s leading art book publishers), published a 400-page monograph honoring Mira Lehr’s artistic career, which began in the 1950s throughout several decades until 2023.  Her work can be seen in American Embassies around the world, sounding Lehr’s clarion call to save the environment across Europe, Asia and Latin America.  Departure, by Mira Lehr In 1969, the visionary Buckminster Fuller selected Lehr as one of only two artists for his groundbreaking World Game Project to spearhead sustainability and nurture the planet ‒ it was a year before the very first Earth Day, and was the catalyst for Lehr’s inspiration to devote her art to the cause of nature.  In December of 2022 during Art Basel Miami Beach, Lehr’s work was selected for three concurrent exhibitions for Miami Art Week.  Things That Change (Grids of Active Planetary Events), by Mira Lehr The Mistress of Light Working with imagery from the natural world, Lehr created layered abstract compositions with unconventional materials. The lush flora of her Miami Beach home/studio was a profound influence on Lehr’s aesthetic vocabulary.  Her nature-based imagery encompassed painting, design, sculpture and video installations. Lehr’s processes included non-traditional media – she ignited and exploded fuses across her canvas with gunpowder and fire. The flames burned holes and left imprints on her paintings.  She layered delicate Japanese paper, applied resin, dyes and welded steel. She described her use of explosives as tying into the theme of creation versus destruction, which to Lehr is integral to the cycles and beauty of nature. The CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer referred to her as “The Mistress of Light.”  The art historian Irving Sandler described her use of imagery: “What makes Lehr's work different is the specificity of her references to nature. I was trying to think of any other artist working in this tradition who did it quite as explicitly as Mira does, and I couldn’t come up with one."  Blazing a Path for Women Artists in the 1960s Lehr inspired new generations of women artists as a mentor and as a collaborator. Prior to her return from New York back to her hometown of Miami Beach in 1960, Lehr studied and worked in Manhattan as an artist. There, in 1950s New York, she met some of America’s most prominent artists during the pivotal mid-Century era of American art, including: Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, and Ludwig Sander. She studied with James Brooks, Ludwig Sander, Robert Motherwell, and within the Hans Hofmann circle.  The eco-feminist artist Mira Lehr (portrait by Nick Garcia, 2019) Upon returning to Miami in 1960, she was shocked at the lack of an art scene, especially the plight of women artists. “Women artists felt stranded and hopeless in Miami,” said Lehr. “I was determined to change that.”  She co-founded one of the country’s first co-ops for women artists who were excluded from the male-dominated art world. It was called Continuum and thrived for more than 30 years, shining a spotlight on Miami Beach’s fledgling art scene.  Lehr convinced many of the famous masters from New York to visit Miami Beach, throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, where they led workshops for her league of women artists and helped foster the evolution of the art community in South Florida.  All of this was well before Art Basel made it to Miami, leading art critics to recognize Mira Lehr as “The Godmother of Miami’s art scene.”  Snow Falling Softly / Red Wave, by Mira Lehr Full Bio: Mira Lehr (1934 - 2023) The eco-feminist artist Mira Lehr was born in New York in 1934. Her solo and group exhibitions number more than 300. She graduated from Vassar College in 1956, where she studied under the mentorship of Linda Nochlin, the renowned feminist art historian.  In recent years, Lehr’s work continued to achieve even greater acclaim, reaching new audiences as she created more new work than ever before.  Three of her works were recently acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York.  Sultry Night, by Mira Lehr Lehr's work has been collected by major institutions, including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York; the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (DC); Getty Museum Research Center (L.A.); the Boca Raton Museum of Art; Perez Art Museum Miami; the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (NY); the Margulies Collection; the Mennello Museum of American Art; MOCA North Miami; the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum-FIU; the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU; and the Orlando Museum of Art, among others. Her work is included in the Leonard Lauder Corporate Collection NY, and in the private collections of Elie and Marion Wiesel, Jane and Morley Safer, and Judy Pfaff, among others. Thirty of her paintings were commissioned for Mount Sinai Hospital Miami Beach.  Her work is in American Embassies around the world, and is permanently on view at the Sloan Kettering Memorial Center in New York. Lehr's large-scale installation "Sacred Dreams" is permanently on view in Miami Beach at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, gifted by Dr. Robert B. Feldman. The artist was recently selected for three concurrent exhibitions during Art Basel Miami Beach 2022/Miami Art Week, including a group show at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU in South Beach (on view until April 2023), and a group show at the Center for Visual Communication in Wynwood (on view until April 8, 2023); and a solo exhibition at Rosenbaum Contemporary that was also on view during Art Basel. Lehr's large-scale painting "Norweky" is currently on view at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, as part of its permanent collection gallery.  Throughout her more than six decades of artmaking, Lehr's nature-based work encompassed painting, sculpture, and video.  She used nontraditional media such as gunpowder, fire, fuses, Japanese paper, dyes, and welded steel. Lehr ignited and exploded fuses to create lines of fire across her paintings.  In the 1950s, Lehr studied and worked in New York where she met some of America’s most prominent masters, including Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, and Helen Frankenthaler. She studied with James Brooks, Ludwig Sander, Robert Motherwell, and within the Hans Hofmann circle.  She was selected in 1969 by Buckminster Fuller as one of only two artists for his World Game Project on sustainability (preceding the first Earth Day). Lehr’s installation, V1 V3, was exhibited at the New Museum in New York. Lehr is recognized as “the Godmother of Miami’s art scene” because upon her return to Miami in 1960 from New York, she co-founded one of the country’s first co-ops for women artists. It was called Continuum, which thrived for more than 30 years into the mid-1990s. She is the subject of a new 400-page international monograph, published by Skira Editore (one of the world's foremost publisher of art books).  The New York public television interview featuring Mira Lehr may be viewed at: https://youtu.be/qiXqbb43kAU   Watch the video of the Women's History Month panel discussion at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qisi162al-Q&t=683s #cparkergallery@fineartmagazine#finearteartfun