Jalyss at Large: National Museum of Women in the Arts

Monday, October 20, 2025

National Museum of Women in the Arts - Special Exhibition

National Museum of Women in the Arts
Rotunda

There are so many places to go see in this area. When I read about a special exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, I knew I had to see it. It's called "Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam - 1600 to 1750". This is the 'Baroque' period of art, ushered in by Caravaggio, characterized by painting real people in a realistic manner. This is the time of Rembrandt and is also a period during which landscape, still life, and portraiture began to gain popularity since Roman Catholic church art commissions were no longer available to artists in Protestant dominated countries.

There were many women artists trained during this period by wealthy families whose family business was art, and the work of the women was favorably received by the patrons during their lifetimes. As the lives of Western women became more constricted by custom, class, and mores during the 19th century, many earlier works by women were simply not included and sometimes their works were even attributed to men during the rise of western art museums. It wasn't until the 1970's when women began to study and actually look for art created by women which had been lost, accessioned (culled from museum collections) or misattributed.

Women did quite a few self portraits in this era. One of the most famous women during this period was Judith Leyster. Here's two self portraits painted 10 years apart

Judith Leyster - painted in 1630

Judith Leyster, 1640

In both portraits, she is holding the tools of her trade. During the 19th century, in at least one instance, a Leyster painting was 'culled' from a museum collection. Here's an example of her work.

"The Concert" - 1633

In every period, only wealthy women had access to training and the TIME to devote to their art. I had to laugh when I noticed a beautiful portrait of a woman. It turns out this is a Princess in exile. She had lots of time on her hands, so she hired tutors to teach her how to paint. She painted a copy of a portrait of herself. The original portrait is by one of her teachers. Copying the 'master' or instructor was a common teaching technique.

This 'copy' is in one museum, and the original portrait in another.

Another point made in the exhibition was the amount of art produced by nameless women using techniques which were considered 'craft' instead of 'art' during this time period. The design and hand creation of lace is a perfect example of an art labeled as craft.

Another craft which I'd never even heard of is called cut paper. Apparently, women created cut paper some of which was fashioned into 'flying' ornaments. Someone in the picture is holding one such ornament. Art historians have speculated that the older woman is the creator.

"Watching a Papercut Wind Toy" circa 1697

Because these were so fragile, there are only a few in existence today. Here is a fragment of one which features a Star of David.

This is part of a larger piece. No idea how it was made.

During this period, painters from this region began selling 'still life' paintings to patrons. Here are some examples of my favorite still life paintings:

Clara Peters - 1650

Maria Tassaert - Still Life with Garland of Fruit

Rachael Ruysch - Vase of Flowers

Ruysch is the most famous of the 'flower' painters. She had the fortune of having a botanist father. Speculation is that Ruysch had the advantage of being able to use preserved specimens from her father's collection of flowers and plants. Here's a close up of the above painting, and you can see the exquisite detail Ruysch was able to produce in her paintings. Flower still life paintings have never gone out of style. They can be found in each succeeding century.

Prior to the advent of photography, painters were contracted to illustrate books of natural history. Thus, many botany, butterfly, and insect books were illustrated by painters. Women painters were contracted for many of these projects. One of the most famous was Cornelia de Rijck who was renown for her paintings/water colors of insects. [Aside: One of the souvenirs I bought in Europe in 1980 was a page out of a botany book which is an original watercolor illustration of a flowering plant.]

This is not a 'pinned' insect; this is a de Rijck painting

This was a wonderful museum. This exhibition was first rate. There were many other great paintings and sculptures in the rest of this museum. Here are a few which I really liked.