Famous female artists have been shaping the art world for centuries, even if history hasn’t always given them the credit they deserve. While names like Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe are now widely celebrated, many other influential female artists remain overlooked compared to their male contemporaries.
From Renaissance painters and Baroque rebels to modern art pioneers, these women challenged expectations, broke creative boundaries and created some of the most remarkable paintings in history. So, in the spirit of giving these artists the recognition they deserve, we’re spotlighting 12 famous female artists whose stories and artwork are worth a closer look.
Where Are the Women Artists?
But before we jump to our list, let’s answer the question everyone’s thinking — where are all the women artists? While it’s easy to find examples of great male painters throughout history, many women remain largely absent from the conversation. In fact, less than fifteen percent of the artists in the world’s top museums are women, according to a study by Artnet News.
There are a few major reasons for that. Until around 200 years ago, most art schools didn’t accept female students, and very few galleries or institutions were willing to exhibit women’s work. Many female artists were self-taught or trained privately—often by their fathers—and didn’t have access to the same opportunities, resources or recognition as their male peers.
From the 16th to 19th centuries, life drawing — especially of the nude — was considered a key part of artistic training. Women, however, were barred from studying nude models for “moral” reasons. Instead, many had to rely on secondhand references like plaster casts or other artists’ sketches.
Then there were the societal expectations. For much of history, women weren’t encouraged to pursue public careers, especially in the arts. While male artists could build connections, travel, and attract wealthy patrons, women were often expected to stay home and focus on more “acceptable” creative pursuits, such as embroidery or needlework.
Ironically, those same creative skills were later dismissed as less important than “real” art, reinforcing the idea that women lacked the talent or vision to become great artists. A frustrating double standard, to say the least.
That said, women were creating art—plenty of it. Their work was often ignored, minimized or, in some cases, credited to men instead. As a result, many influential female artists were gradually written out of art history altogether.
That’s what we’re here to change.
12 Famous Female Artists History Almost Forgot
How many famous female artists can you name? If the answer is only a handful, you’re not alone. While many influential women artists have existed throughout history, many were overlooked or faded into obscurity after their deaths.
That’s exactly why we’re revisiting their stories. Below, we’re shining the spotlight on 12 famous female artists whose paintings, careers and creative achievements helped shape the art world, despite the barriers they faced at the time.
1. Caterina van Hemessen (1528–1588) – The Unknown Pioneer
One of the earliest identifiable female painters, Caterina van Hemessen was a Flemish Renaissance artist best known for her portraits of women and religious compositions. She was most likely trained by her father, the prominent Mannerist painter Jan Sanders van Hemessen. Later in life, she became a master in the Guild of St. Luke, where she taught her own students.
Artist Trivia: Van Hemessen is often credited with creating the first self-portrait of an artist depicted seated at an easel. She inscribed it with the Latin words, “I Caterina van Hemessen have painted myself/1548/Here aged 20”. The groundbreaking painting shows her seated at an easel in the middle of her work and now forms part of the Kunstmuseum Basel collection.
2. Sofonisba Anguissola (1535-1625) – An Apprentice to Michelangelo
Sofonisba Anguissola is one of the most famous female painters of the Renaissance. She took up painting with the encouragement of her father, a nobleman who supported her in developing her artistic talent. She was highly successful during her lifetime, and she was even appointed court painter to Philip II of Spain. When age prevented her from painting, she mentored young artists, including Anthony van Dyck.
Little-known fact: As a young woman, Anguissola traveled to Rome, where she was introduced to none other than Michelangelo. The Italian master immediately recognized her talent and offered her his guidance. In 1577, Anguissola’s father wrote to him thanking him for the “honorable and thoughtful affection that you have shown to Sofonisba, my daughter, to whom you introduced to practice the most honorable art of painting.”
3. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) – The Baroque Heroine
In an era when women had few opportunities to become professional artists, Artemisia Gentileschi managed to establish herself as a successful painter and was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. Distinguished by dramatic subjects, vivid colors, and contrasting lights and darks, her work has recently enjoyed a well-deserved resurgence in interest and admiration.
Historical note: At a young age, Gentileschi was raped by her father’s friend and fellow painter Agostino Tassi. Unsurprisingly, as was often the case at the time, her reputation was called into question. However, Artemisia stuck to her account even after she was tortured during her testimony. After the trial, Tassi was convicted but never served his sentence.
4. Judith Leyster (1609-1660) – A Talent Lost and Found
Judith Leyster was one of the first successful female artists in the Netherlands. A talented painter and printmaker of the Dutch Golden Age, she’s best known for her lively scenes of everyday life — something unusual for a female artist at the time. Although praised during her lifetime, her artistic career was short-lived. In 1636, she married fellow artist Jan Miense Molenaer and gave up painting to focus on her family instead.
Behind the canvas: Judith Leyster was virtually erased from art history after her death. Her works were either left unattributed or credited to her fellow painter Frans Hals or her husband, Molenaer. She only reemerged in the late 19th century when her initials were found on the painting Carousing Couple hidden underneath a faked signature of Hals.
5. Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807) – A Neoclassical Superstar
Angelica Kauffman was one of the most famous portraitists in 18th-century Europe and a dedicated history painter at a time when women were still prohibited from drawing nude models. Unable to participate in life drawing lessons, she allegedly learned anatomy by studying plaster casts of famous statues. Like many successful female artists before her, she had a supportive father, painter Joseph Kauffman. He trained her in the basics of drawing and painting and helped her advance her career.
Art history fact: Although Kauffman was one of only two female painters among the thirty-six founding members of London’s Royal Academy, she doesn’t appear in their famous group portrait: The Academicians of the Royal Academy. Since the painting was staged in a life studio with nude male models, the two women artists had to be banished from the room for reasons of decency.
6. Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) – A Royal Portraitist
Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was one of the best-known and most fashionable portraitists of 18th century France. She even became a favorite portraitist of Marie-Antoinette, whom she painted a total of 30 times. In fact, the royal intervention led to Vigée Le Brun’s admittance to the Académie Royale in 1783 as one of only four women members permitted.
Surprising but true: Because of her close ties to the queen, Vigée Le Brun was forced to flee France during the French Revolution. However, she went on to build a successful career abroad, portraying aristocrats across Italy, Austria, and Russia, before returning to France in 1802, once her name had ultimately been struck from the list of enemy émigrés.
7. Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) – A Brilliant Cross-Dresser
Rosa Bonheur achieved remarkable fame during her lifetime and became one of the most celebrated female painters of the 19th century. The fiercely independent Victorian-era artist specialised in painting animals, particularly horses and livestock. Her most famous work is the monumental The Horse Fair.
Museum-worthy fact: In a century that did its best to keep women in their place, Bonheur defined herself outside of the social and legal codes of her time. She earned her own money, wore traditionally masculine clothing, smoked, and lived with female companions. Referring to her notorious indifference towards men, she memorably declared, “As far as males go, I only like the bulls I paint.”
8. Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) – A Forgotten Impressionist
The only American artist invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists, Mary Cassatt, was a female way ahead of her time. She escaped the conventional constraints of her family and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts to study among her male peers. Disappointed with her art education in the US, she later moved to Paris, where she helped develop Impressionism alongside Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, and Camille Pissarro.
Artistic insight: As a woman, Mary Cassatt was denied much of the subject material favored by her male contemporaries. Since women at the time were excluded from many public spaces and artistic circles, she focused on scenes of domestic life instead. As a result, she excelled at painting intimate depictions of mothers and children, capturing the female experience with honesty and intimacy.
9. Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) – The First Abstractionist
Born in Sweden in 1862, Hilma af Klint was among the earliest women to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. She began creating radically abstract paintings years before artists like Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian were credited with pioneering abstract art. Only in recent decades has Hilma af Klint started receiving wider recognition as one of the true pioneers of abstract art.
Creative legacy: Fascinated by spirituality and mysticism, Hilma participated in séances where she believed she communicated with spirit guides. She later claimed these communications inspired her to create Paintings for the Temple, which was deemed her most ambitious series. She later described this as “the one great task that I carried out in my lifetime.”
10. Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) – A Modern American
A central figure of American modernism and a pioneer of feminist art, Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most influential women artists of the 20th century. Although classically trained in Chicago and New York City, she pushed beyond traditional art education through abstract works that defied easy classification. She is best known for her erotic close-up depictions of flowers, which many interpreted as metaphorical representations of the female body.
Hidden detail: In her 70s, O’Keeffe’s eyesight began to fail. Although painting became more difficult, her desire to create never faded. She famously said, “I can see what I want to paint. The thing that makes you want to create is still there.” So, she began experimenting with clay sculpting and continued with it until her death at 98.
11. Tamara De Lempicka (1898-1980) – A Baroness With a Brush
Tamara De Lempicka was one of the defining artists of the Art Deco era, whose life and art embodied the glamour and decadence of the 1920s. An icon of modern femininity, she made a bold impression on the art world, painting sleek, sensual portraits of aristocrats and celebrities. While she became best known for her portrait work, she also created still life paintings and magazine illustrations.
The story behind the art: De Lempicka enjoyed the hedonistic lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties. She took both male and female lovers, which might explain why her mostly female nude paintings have such intense erotic energy. She was also closely associated with other bisexual icons of the time, such as Vita Sackville-West and Colette.
12. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) – The Mother of Selfie
Once an obscure Mexican surrealist, Frida Kahlo is now a cult figure celebrated for her emotional self-portraits, bold personal style and uncompromising artistic voice. She struggled with the consequences of polio and a bus accident for much of her life, suffering from frequent relapses of pain, which she later used to channel into her artwork. Her husband, painter Diego Rivera, once described it: ”Never before had a woman put such agonized poetry on canvas as Frida.”
Legacy note: While the 20th century was the first in which women began to win equality in the art world, many were still considered muses of their famous partners rather than artists in their own right. Frida Kahlo stood in the artistic shadow of her husband, Diego Rivera, her entire life. Today, she’s recognised as a pioneering feminist artist who placed identity, pain and womanhood at the centre of her work. Many now consider her one of the most influential female artists of all time.
Why These Female Artists Still Matter
From Renaissance trailblazers to modern art icons, these famous female artists helped shape the creative world we know today. Their paintings, ideas and personal stories continue to inspire generations of artists, designers and art lovers across galleries, fashion, film and pop culture.
While many women artists were overlooked for centuries, their work is finally getting the recognition it deserves, and art history is far richer because of it.
Feeling inspired to bring more iconic artwork into your own space? Explore Displate’s collection of metal posters featuring famous paintings, abstract art, surrealist masterpieces and designs inspired by some of history’s most influential artists. There’s plenty of wall decor to help turn your space into your own personal gallery.
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