Fifty Works by Fifty British Women Artists 1900 - 1950

Ever since Linda Nochlin asked in 1971, Why have there been no great women artists? art history has been probing the female gaze. Through scholarship and exhibitions, readings have been put in place to counter prevailing assumptions that artistic creativity is primarily a masculine affair. 50/50 functions as a corrective to the exclusion of women from the ëmasterí narratives of art. It introduces fifty artworks by known and lesser-known women outstanding works that speak out.

Fifty commentaries by fifty different writers bring out each artworkís unique story ñ sometimes from an objective art historical perspective and sometimes from an entirely personal point of view ñ thereby creating a rich and colourful diorama. This exhibition does not, however, attempt to present a survey or to address all the arguments around the history of women and art. Anthologies are of necessity incomplete, and many remarkable imaginations are not here represented.

Women artists have been set apart from male artists not only to their own disadvantage but also to the detriment of British art. While there were some improvements for women to access an artistic career in the twentieth century in terms of patronage, economics and critical attention ñ all the things that confer professional status ñ women had the least of everything. By showcasing just a few of the remarkable works produced, this exhibition draws attention to the fact that a vision of British twentieth century art closer to a 50/50 balance would not only provide a truer account, but also a more vivid and meaningful narrative.

Works Featured in this catalogue

Sold
Edith Granger-Taylor (1887 - 1958)
Self Portrait, 1911
Private
Mary Potter (1900 - 1981)
Country Studio, 1944
Sold
Ethel Leontine Gabain (1883 - 1950)
Captain Pauline Gower of the Womens Air Transport Auxiliary, circa 1940
Sold
Olive Mudie-Cooke (1890 - 1925)
Unique presentation portfolio of fifteen lithographs, ‘With the VAD Convoys in France, Flanders, Italy’,
Private
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Prudence on Pegasus, 1937-38
Isobel Atterbury Heath (1908 - 1989)
A Royal Navy Mine Sweeper in Dry Dock, circa 1940
£5,000
Sold
Averil Mary Burleigh (1883 - 1949)
The Still Room, 1928
Sold
Margaret Duncan (1906 - 1979)
Reigate and its Environments, late 1930’s
Sold
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Portrait of Marjorie Gertler, 1931
Sold
Gladys Dorothy Davison (1889 - 1922 )
The Window, circa 1910
Evelyn Gibbs (1905 - 1991)
The Chapel, 1928
£1,500
Private
Frances Richards (1903 - 1985)
Hieratic Head, circa 1940
Private
Amy Gladys Donovan (1898 - 1984)
Self Portrait, 1926
Private
Marlow Moss (1889 - 1958)
White, Black, Yellow and Blue, 1954
Sold
Margaret Wrightson (1877 - 1976)
Mechanic: Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, 1917
Private
Doris Zinkeisen (1898 - 1991)
Work Artists record of mural designed for the Arts and Crafts exhibition, Royal Academy, 1916
Clare Leighton (1898 - 1989)
The Reaper (BPL 221), 1933
£5,000
Private
Joyce Bidder (1906 - 1999)
The Iris Pool, 1947
Sold
Clara Klinghoffer (1900 - 1970)
The Artist’s Sister, 1919
Private
Daisy Theresa Borne (1906 - 1998)
Madonna of the Adoring Angels, 1929
Sold
Edith Grace Wheatley (1888 - 1970)
The China Cupboard, 1910
Private
Dora Carrington (1893 - 1932)
Eggs on a Table, Tidmarsh Mill, circa 1924
Private
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Men Stooking and Girls Learning to Stook. 1940
Private
Madeline Green (1884 - 1947)
Coster with Dogs, circa 1925