Nike Davies is one of the few African women known internationally in contemporary art circles. The Woman with the Artistic Brush traces her life history and illustrates the strategies developed by women to mitigate male rule. Presenting a critique of the woman's place in contemporary Yoruba society from the perspective of a woman who lived it, this book covers Nike's life from the time of her mother's death when Nike was six to the culmination of her dream in the creation, against severe societal odds, of a center for arts and culture that has over 120 members. Along the way, The Woman with the Artistic Brush details how Nike ran away from home and joined a traveling theater group after her father tried to arrange her marriage, subsequently married and joined in the polygynous household of a noted artist from the popular Osogbo school, and finally broke clear of that situation after suffering sixteen years of domestic violence. The Woman with the Artistic Brush is another superb contribution to the Foremother Legacies series.

Nike Davies is one of the few African women known internationally in contemporary art circles. The Woman with the Artistic Brush traces her life history and illustrates the strategies developed by women to mitigate male rule. Presenting a critique of the woman's place in contemporary Yoruba society from the perspective of a woman who lived it, this book covers Nike's life from the time of her mother's death when Nike was six to the culmination of her dream in the creation, against severe societal odds, of a center for arts and culture that has over 120 members. Along the way, The Woman with the Artistic Brush details how Nike ran away from home and joined a traveling theater group after her father tried to arrange her marriage, subsequently married and joined in the polygynous household of a noted artist from the popular Osogbo school, and finally broke clear of that situation after suffering sixteen years of domestic violence. The Woman with the Artistic Brush is another superb contribution to the Foremother Legacies series.

Although the women of the Union were often quite conservative politically, socially, and stylistically, says Garb, they believed that women had a special gift that would enhance France's cultural reputation and maintain the uplifting moral-cultural position that seemed in jeopardy at the turn of the century. Focusing on the developments that made the prominence of the organisation possible, Garb discusses the growth of the women's movement, educational reforms, institutional changes in the art world, and critical debates and contemporary scientific thought.

The life of artist Georgia O'Keeffe is revealed in this biographical novel — from her childhood when she decided to be an artist, through her art education in Chicago and New York, to her eventual rise to fame in the American Southwest. At the age of 12, Georgia O'Keeffe announced that she wanted to be an artist. With the support of her family, O'Keeffe attended boarding schools with strong art programs, and after graduating, went to live with an aunt and uncle in Chicago to attend the city's highly regarded Art Institute. Illness forced O'Keeffe to leave Chicago, but once she'd recovered, her family scraped together funds to send her to New York to study at the Art Students League. When her family fell on hard times, she left without the degree she needed. Discouraged, but unwilling to give up her dream, O'Keeffe found a different path. She became an art teacher in schools in Texas and South Carolina, honing her own craft as she taught her students. O'Keeffe never gave up her dream, no matter what obstacles she encountered--she knew she was meant to be an artist.

"The story in this book begins with the first letter in the year Eliza Champlain was born, 1797, in New London. It unfolds through her own, her mother's, and her aunt's correspondence - hundreds of letters now first published with explanatory chapters, commentary, and notes around them. Her aunt, at first in their home town and then (from 1811) for eight years in New York, was the first professional artist of her sex in the United States - Mary Way, a painter of miniature portraits. Eliza's mother, remaining at home, also earned her living by her brush. The two older women taught all they knew to Eliza, sometimes looking over her shoulder, sometimes in their letters. To show how artists went about their work in the period, nothing matches this collection." "Paintings by all three can be found in various private collections and galleries, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The book through its color plates introduces an equal number of paintings hitherto unknown which were preserved with the letters." "The core of the book, however, is the world of women - their circles and relationships, their concerns, and the opportunities open to them in the early Republic."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Dulari Devi, who works in the traditional Mithila style of Indian painting, describes her life of poverty until a job working as a domestic for an artist led her to discover her own artistic talent.

Oei is the daughter of the great Japanese printmaker Hokusai. Long consigned to a minor role as gloomy sidekick, she is barely a footnote in the historical record. Here, Oei recounts her life with one of the great eccentrics of the 19th century. Dodging the Shogun's spies, she and Hokusai live amongst actors, novelists, tattoo artists and prostitutes, making the exquisite pictures that define their time. Disguised, they escape the city gates to view waves and Mount Fuji. But they return to enchanting, dangerous Edo (Tokyo), the largest city in the world. Wielding her brush, Oei defies all expectations of womanhood-- all but one. She is dutiful until death to the exasperating father who created her and, ultimately, steals her future. A breathtaking work of imagination, The Ghost Brush illuminates the most tender and ambiguous love of all--that between father and daughter.

An artist? A dreamer? A rebel? Who exactly was Amrita Sher-Gil? She was a little bit of all these things, really. Amrita grew up with a great sense of mischief and adventure in two very different worlds, in a village near Budapest, Hungary, and among the cool, green hills of colonial Simla. She defied headmistresses, teachers, art critics and royalty to make her own determined way in the world of grown-ups and art.Join her on a journey through her life, a journey that takes her family through World Wars and political turmoil as they travel in pursuit of love, a home and a modern, artistic education for Amrita!

Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 female artists from around the globe in text that's smart, feisty, educational, and an enjoyable read. Replete with beautiful reproductions of the artists' works and contemporary portraits of each artist by renowned illustrator Lisa Congdon, this is art history from the Renaissance to Abstract Expressionism for the modern art lover, reader, and feminist.