A career in the arts is frequently not merely one of creativity but also one of entrepreneurship. Following the 2019 publication of Great Women Artists and the 2022 Great Women Painters, in an inspiring new release, Phaidon presents Great Women Sculptors, a profound testament to the creativity, resilience, and artistic contributions of women sculptors throughout history. This meticulously curated volume challenges the male-dominated narrative of art history, shedding light on the powerful and diverse works of over 300 women sculptors born over the past five centuries, hailing from more than 60 countries.
Historically, many have insinuated that women artists would not be as successful in sculpture as their male counterparts simply due to women’s perceived physical limitations. From Louise Bourgeois and Barbara Hepworth to contemporary trailblazers such as Rachel Whiteread and Doris Salcedo, the book cites many examples that forcefully prove this narrative wrong. In the meantime, the publication acknowledges the fact that sculpture itself is not a stable category. Its definition escapes any form of rigid outlining.
In the book’s introduction by Lisa Le Feuvre and in the preface by editors Maia Murphy, Olivia Clark, and Charlotte Flint, the authors contend with the definition of sculpture, reaching the consensus that sculpture’s definition has changed throughout generational art historical developments. Over the time span covered by the book’s scope, what is imagined and defined to be “sculpture” has shifted from artifacts of terra-cotta and marble to readymades, assemblages, large-scale photographs, and even TV screens. The pivotal pillar uniting the diverse range of sculptural practices encompassed by Great Women Sculptors is “how [the artists] initiate an encounter with space.”
Reflecting on the words of prominent feminist art historian Linda Nochlin, Le Feuvre writes: “To be great is to be exceptional, to be valued above others. Nochlin picks the bubble of artistic genius, and points to the structures that formulate the notion of art history… Institutions form the conditions of production enabling some, not all, to produce sculpture.” This is to say that the systemic undermining of female sculptors is not to be reduced to a matter of innate talent or the lack thereof. Rather, educational and curatorial ecosystems alike have discouraged female artists’ pursuit of sculpture.
The artists included in this book are exemplars who defied this structural inequality. Each artist’s profile is accompanied by a well-written paragraph about their career, as well as a photograph of their work. Readers are offered an immersive visual experience that underscores the intellectually reflexive power of sculpture as a medium, the discourse around which takes place on the fronts of, for instance, form, materiality, and dimensionality. This beautifully crafted volume is a must-have for anyone interested in the arts, providing a long-overdue recognition of the women who have shaped and continue to shape the world of sculpture.
The book is available for pre-order now and will ship on October 8th, 2024.
Jenny Wang is a journalist with a background in postwar and contemporary art, design, and architecture. As the Writer-in-Residence of The Immigrant Artist Biennial 2023 and the Editor-in-Chief of Project IMPULSE, her work focuses on the intersection of women’s rights and US immigration policies. She holds a B.A. from Columbia University, and her thesis focuses on twentieth-century office planning and ergonomic chairs.
