THE STORY OF ART WITHOUT MEN

458pp., colour illus., hardback, Hutchinson Heinemann, London, 2022

ISBN: 9781529151145

A history of art by women. Includes Marlene Dumas, Zanele Muholi, Wangechi Mutu and Lisa Brice.

"Starting in 1500 and shooting through to artists born in the 1990s, The Story of Art Without Men brings centuries-old figures to life while giving form and gravitas to emergent voices and covering every substantial movement from dadaism to civil-rights-era antiracist art along the way ... It is thick with fascinating details, so that even readers who pride themselves on being exhibition hounds, art historians and gallery hoppers will discover new names ... We glide through multiple wars, social crises and political (and artistic) movements with exquisite lightness and focus. Hessel balances her research with an easy, intimate approach to each artist’s work, combining a sense of their historical significance with an extraordinary ability to encapsulate their unique style ... She brings to each artwork an attention that is both sober and pleasurable, a sensitive balance of probity, acceptance and fascination: exactly the kind of critical weight that female artists have been denied for centuries." Bibisha Mamata, The Guardian

"What Hessel achieves here is extraordinary ... She covers a wide range of mediums (from silhouette papercutting to body art) and themes (including postcolonial narratives and queer pride). And though she keeps the focus on the women, she includes a few choice slurs by men as evidence of what these artists were - and are - up against" Margot Mifflin, Los Angeles Times

Katy Hessel is a British art historian, broadcaster and curator. She is the founder of @thegreatwomenartists, an Instagram account that has celebrated women artists on a daily basis since October 2015. She also hosts and writes The Great Women Artists Podcast and hosts the Dior Talks - Feminist Art podcast. She lives in London.