Unforgettable II

Unforgettable II: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam 1600-1750
at the MSK (Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent)
from 7 March – 31 May 2026
II: The Community of Artists
Monday, 17 August at 6pm 

In Spring this year the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent staged the most comprehensive exhibition about women in the visual arts I have yet seen. Drawing together the extensive research that has taken place over the past few decades, it presented a more thoroughly grounded way of looking at the artists: who they were, how they organised their careers, and how they managed to have careers in the first place. Far rather than being ‘freak’ phenomena, women worked regularly in the arts, and were often hugely successful. Although the exhibition has been and gone, it is well worth looking back at the remarkable wealth of material it presented – so much so, indeed, that I have decided to dedicate two talks to it. You can book for either separately, or, on a different link, both together at a reduced price. 

Focussing on artists in the ‘Greater Netherlands’ (my term – what we now call The Netherlands and Belgium), the exhibition was arranged into themes. Individual artists reappear as consistent threads drawing together the themes, and filling out our understanding of their careers and their place within the artistic community. This, far more than monographic rooms dedicated to single artists, helps to show how much they were part of the different communities to which they belonged, rather than being isolated from their male colleagues as curiosities or wonders. 

The second talk starts with the theme ‘Social Expectations’, which looks at the ways in which these women adhered to cultural norms – or for that matter broke with them. The exhibitions goes on to consider both local and global networks, and concludes by looking at the ways in which the work by women was valued, how it was remembered – in dedicated publications, for example - and concludes by remembering the surviving legacy that we can value today.

Please remember, I do not record my talks.